A Uchiha Among Uzumaki
by Nate Grey
Summary: Uchiha Sayuri was born in darkness, and is now dragged into the light. But the more Naruto and Hinata open up their hearts to her, the more she needs to seek out the last two Uchiha, and find out who she really is.  Companion to The Iron Hyuuga.
1. The Potted Lily

Notes: I stumbled across another fan-made character that had a strikingly similar origin, ability, and living situation as the one that is introduced here. But that person's came first, and though no one will believe me, I wasn't aware of that character until well after I'd started the first draft of this chapter a couple of months ago. Still, I'd like to think that the two stories in which the characters appear are distinct enough that you won't get them confused. But I suggest you read Trenchcoatgirl-Kyo's "The Purity of White" anyway, just because it's a similar idea done in a different way, with a rare couple, and because if you think my character's eyes are weird...

**A Uchiha Among Uzumaki**

**Part 1: The Potted Lily**

**A Naruto Ficlet by**

**Nate Grey (XMAN0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

"You still haven't told me what I'm doing here, oji-san."

The broad shouldered blond ninja paused briefly to glance down at his niece's curious face. Though her large Hyuuga eyes were always a pale shade of lavender, this became even more obvious whenever she was excited or frightened. Today, she was probably leaning more towards excitement, and as far as Naruto was concerned, that could only be a good thing for what he had in mind.

They had stopped a few feet from Konoha's newest hospital, and not just because Naruto was having second thoughts about bringing his niece along with him. This particular hospital was devoted, almost exclusively, to those ninja who either couldn't or wouldn't be trusted to behave themselves while receiving treatment. In short, the patients here were a danger to themselves, and more importantly, anyone nearby.

He had thought that Tsunade was insane (or at least very, very drunk) the first time she'd proposed such a place. But Shizune had pointed out that if a certain missing-nin ever decided to return to the village, he would be better off in a private hospital with extra security, than in the regular hospital where virtually anyone who might hold a grudge could get to him without too much trouble.

Ironically enough, it was probably Sasuke's fault that they had even come here today, but Naruto would figure that part out later, once he got all the necessary information.

"I brought you here to possibly make a new friend," Naruto said at last, hoping his niece didn't bother to question him on it. It was pretty obvious from the look on her face that when he'd said they were going out, she'd been hoping for something along the lines of secret training, roughhousing with the new Inuzuka puppies, or stuffing themselves silly with sweets before dinner.

"A sick friend?" she asked hesitantly. "Shouldn't I wait until they're better? Most of the things I like to do depend heavily on not being sick..."

"They're not sick," Naruto informed her. "Not physically, from what I understand. But that's not the point. The point is they're probably lonely and afraid. They've never been to Konoha before, and they can't possibly know anyone here their age. You're going to change that."

"I should've brought flowers," she muttered. "We should've stopped by Yamanaka-san's shop. She always knows the best flowers for uncomfortable situations."

"I don't think they'd allow flowers in here, anyway," Naruto sighed. "They burn too easy, and-"

Suddenly, he felt her small hand gripping his much larger one tightly.

"Oji-san. This is about... him, isn't it? The last Uchiha of the Leaf?"

Naruto wanted to smack himself, but she was holding onto his preferred self-smacking hand, so he decided against it, for now. "Yes," he said simply. "Well, probably. I'm not completely sure just yet."

"We're going to get in trouble if my parents find out we're here, aren't we?" she asked.

"Assuming your Papa doesn't just kill me, yeah."

"Oh." She blinked. "Well, why didn't you say that at home? Let's go already!"

Naruto gasped as he was suddenly jerked forward, nearly stumbling as his niece set off at an alarming pace, especially considering she was dragging someone nearly three times her size behind her.

* * *

Despite not being able to move much, or maybe even because of that, the girl could hear the voices behind the closed door very clearly.

"Do you really think it's safe to have her here?"

She wasn't sure whose voice that was, having never heard it before. It sounded a bit like the man had gravel in his throat, though. The next one, though, she did recognize.

"She's safer here than anywhere else, Ibiki."

That was the white-haired giant. The one who had come for her, and saved her life. She still hadn't decided if he was to be thanked or despised for that. Glancing down at her restrained body, she was starting to lean toward the latter.

"He was talking about everyone else's safety, not hers."

That could only be the angry woman, who seemed comfortable with yelling at nearly everyone despite her slightly smaller stature. The girl didn't like the woman at all... and yet, she understood what it must be like, to be her.

"Would you be happier if I'd left her where I found her, so that she could become yet another disposable weapon to be used against us?" she heard the giant snap.

"Calm down, Jiraiya-sama," said another voice. "No one here is saying that you were wrong to rescue her. But it would be nice if you could give us some reassurances. We know nothing about this girl, and you're the only one that's had any considerable exposure to her. Any information you could provide-"

"Like what the hell is up with the kid's Sharingan?" the angry woman demanded. "I've known her an hour, and I still haven't seen her real eyes!"

"Don't get excited, Anko," the giant replied with a gruff laugh. "I've known her a whole month, and I've seen nothing but her Sharingan from the moment I found her. She either can't or won't reveal her true eyes. I'm starting to suspect they might even BE the true state of her eyes."

"But that's not possible, is it? The Uchiha aren't born with the Sharingan activated. And there's no way a kid should be able to have it on all the time without draining all of her chakra."

The girl suddenly became aware of footsteps approaching, and the door on the left of the room opened to reveal a big, blond man, and just behind him, a girl roughly her own size with huge pale eyes.

"Remember your manners, Irihi," the man said to his young companion. Then he turned and went to join the meeting in the next room, shutting the door firmly behind him.

The two girls stared at each other for a long moment.

Finally, Irihi moved a little closer to the girl's bed.

"I would've brought you flowers, but they're not allowed," Irihi stated quietly. "I'm Hyuuga Irihi, by the way. Nice to meet you, whoever you are."

The girl blinked a few times, but otherwise did not react.

That, however, did not seem to bother her visitor in the least.

"I heard there's nothing wrong with your body, so I'm not really sure why they brought you in here. And I really don't know why they put you in this dirt body cast. That doesn't look comfortable at all. In fact, it almost looks like they don't want you to... oh. OH." Irihi's eyes widened, which the girl would've thought impossible, considering their original size. "You were bad, weren't you? I bet you attacked somebody important, huh? Nobody I know would've had the guts to do that. You must be really brave."

The girl shifted uncomfortably. She wasn't used to adoration, and it made her feel... itchy, for some reason.

"You got an itch? I'll get it." And before the girl could stop her, Irihi had climbed onto the bed and was slowly running her fingers along the few parts of the girl's neck that were exposed. "Just nod or something when I get there, okay?"

"Arms," the girl murmured softly, avoiding Irihi's eyes.

"Oh. Well, I can't get to those, unless..." Irihi threw a glance at the door her guardian had gone through. "Hold really still for a minute."

The girl watched, fascinated, as Irihi performed a few hand seals, and prominent veins suddenly appeared around her eyes. After a few seconds of staring intently at the body cast, Irihi slowly began to poke seemingly random spots with her fingers, gradually speeding up until her hands were a blur. By the time she realized that Irihi was actually hitting the same few spots over and over again at increasingly rapid speeds, small cracks had begun to form in the cast. After a few more seconds, the entire cast crumbled away, and the girl instantly began to scratch wildly at her arms, very nearly tearing into her skin with her sharp fingernails.

"Hey, slow down!" Irihi's slightly larger hands slid over the girl's, gently bringing them to a stop. "You'll hurt yourself if you do it like that." She slowly pushed the girl's hands aside and began to lightly scratch the girl's arms for her. "You know, I usually make it a point to learn people's names before I scratch their arms..." she commented lightly, apparently determined to have a conversation.

The girl hesitated. "The giant calls me Soshina," she whispered.

"You have your own giant?" Irihi asked in surprise. "Where'd you get him?"

"He came and got me," the girl explained. "I think he's from here... this village."

"I never saw a giant here," Irihi muttered, sounding a bit jealous. "So your name is Soshina?"

"No," the girl replied at once. "It's just what he calls me."

Irihi blinked. "So what IS your name?"

"I... don't have one."

"Sure you do! Maybe you just forgot it."

"I can't ever remember having one."

"Never?"

The girl shook her head.

"Wow. Well, we should get you one." Irihi stared at the girl for a long moment. "You look like a Sayuri to me. I'll call you that until you get a better name."

"Sayuri?" the girl asked uncertainly.

"Yup. Because you were potted when I found you, and your skin is soft like a lily... when you're not scratching it raw, anyway. So you're Uchiha Sayuri."

The girl froze. "How do you know that name?" she demanded.

"It's pretty obvious from your eyes," Irihi replied casually. "You've got the Sharingan. Naruto oji-san and Hinata oba-san told me about it. They used to know someone from your clan. But that was a long time ago, and they don't talk about it much. You're the first person my age I've seen with the Sharingan." As an afterthought, she added, "If the grown-ups send you to the Academy, you can sit with me and Shinju. Look for us in the very back row, okay?"

The girl didn't know what to think about Irihi. Everyone else had had very noticeable reactions upon seeing her eyes for the first time. But Irihi, despite admittedly not being used to the Sharingan in one so young, hadn't even given them a second glance. Perhaps she was just used to people looking at her own eyes in the same way. The girl felt a strange sort of kinship with Irihi because of that, and decided it might be worthwhile to try and learn a few more things about this village from her, before they were separated.

Of course, that was when the door to the right swung open, and everyone the girl had been listening to before Irihi came stepped out, stopping short as they noticed the current state of things.

Irihi seemed to sense that an explanation was required, because she instantly announced, rather proudly, "She had an itch, but I got it!"

Unfortunately, only the giant and Irihi's big blond seemed to find this at all amusing, and things pretty much went downhill from there.

* * *

Sayuri (as she had now begun to think of herself, at least when the giant wasn't around) was not enjoying her stay in Konoha. For one thing, she didn't particularly want to stay. She much preferred the several weeks she had spent clinging to the giant's arm, as his oversized toad carried them over all sorts of terrain. Even back when she hadn't really cared for the giant at all, he had at least been very amusing, and a welcome change from all the cold, angry people she was used to dealing with.

But nearly everyone in Konoha seemed to be upset, and Sayuri had figured out very quickly that she was the cause. Something about her origins bothered them, but it was difficult to pick out exactly which problem from her troubled past they took issue with (especially since she only knew bits and pieces herself), or if it was simply her entire past that they didn't care for.

As the feelings of the villagers were rather obvious, Sayuri had hoped that the giant would take her away again. Instead, he took her to a house that was only slightly outside the village, from what she could see, and left her with the people there, under strict instructions not to run away.

He said nothing about behaving herself. Sayuri was quite clear on that point before she made up her mind to make her feelings known.

It didn't matter that the man was Irihi's big blond, or that the woman had the same eyes as Irihi. Neither of them actually was Irihi, and that was their greatest failing, as far as Sayuri was concerned. If they got too close, she bit. If they asked her to do something, she refused.

Sayuri realized, of course, that had she asked for Irihi, there was a good chance someone would've been sent to fetch her. Nor would she have been opposed to Irihi suddenly showing up for no reason at all. But she wasn't about to ask anyone for anything. That would imply that she needed things from them, and that was not the case.

This sort of thing continued until Irihi actually did arrive a few hours later.

"Sayuri!" Irihi cried upon seeing the huge mess she'd made of the house. "What are you doing? You can't just wreck oji-san's house!"

Though she probably should have felt ashamed, Sayuri only felt slightly calmer, now that Irihi was around again. She hadn't known the people were related to Irihi, but even that wasn't enough to pacify her. Sayuri suddenly realized that she wanted to be around Irihi all of the time. Irihi seemed to know things, and more importantly, didn't mind sharing them.

The problem was that, once again, she refused to put that into words. Then it would become a need. Although, Sayuri would admit to herself later on, Irihi was essential to her survival in Konoha. No one else here quite understood her.

But Irihi insisted on treating the damage to her uncle's house as a personal insult, and refused to speak to Sayuri for the rest of the day.

Sayuri knew then that she would not be able to stay with these people, no matter who they were to Irihi. If she were not allowed to attack and destroy things on a regular basis, she would be unable to protect herself efficiently.

So, the moment Irihi left, Sayuri fled the house and hid in the first empty house she came across... which, actually, was less than a minute away, and on the same property. She hadn't technically run away; the people obviously knew she was there, since they left food, clothing, and anything else she might need at the door. Sayuri thought they resigned themselves to the situation rather quickly, almost as if they'd been expecting her to act in such a way. She wondered if the Uchiha they had known before her had behaved similarly, and if that was good or bad.

* * *

The next morning, Sayuri woke up to a very loud voice outside of her new house.

"C'mon, Akamaru! Time to practice some jutsu!"

Sayuri frowned, recognizing the big blond's voice. What was he thinking, announcing his intentions to the world like that? Anyone could sneak up, spy on him, and learn... his... secrets.

Hmm.

Although she recognized the ploy for what it was, the chance to copy new jutsu was too great to resist. Sayuri had learned a few things from the giant in their time together, but he seemed to know a lot more than he showed her (certainly she hadn't seen that earthen prison jutsu until he used it on her). She suspected that Irihi's uncle, while not quite as big, might know nearly as much, and if he was willing to share in order to draw her out of the house, she would play his game for now.

She hadn't really counted on the huge dog, which was quite a shock at first. But thankfully, the dog kept its distance, and pretty soon, Sayuri's Sharingan was working overtime to dissect and piece back together the wide variety of jutsu that the big blond displayed. Over half of them she knew right away that she couldn't perform... not yet, anyway. But there were quite a few basic moves included, and it was those that made Sayuri realize that this man wanted her to actually learn, not just copy. Perhaps Irihi had asked him to, because beyond that, Sayuri could think of no reason why he might arm her so thoroughly.

Before she knew it, the sun was high in the sky, and Irihi's aunt came out to call the man inside for lunch. Sayuri noticed for the first time that the woman was pregnant, and began to feel the slightest bit guilty about biting her. But oddly enough, there was absolutely no hesitation in the woman as she walked over and invited Sayuri to join them. Even then, Sayuri thought about refusing. But when she saw the pinkish bite marks still on the woman's hand, she changed her mind.

The food was good, or at least better than anything Sayuri had been used to. Irihi's uncle talked for the whole meal about various things, obviously for her benefit. At first, he only mentioned the Uchiha he had known sparingly, but Sayuri found herself becoming interested, and soon he was talking about nothing else. She wasn't sure if she liked this Sasuke person, but he was family, so he might know things about her that she didn't. From what the giant had told her, though, seeking him out now would be much too dangerous for many reasons, the greatest of which was Sasuke's older brother, Itachi, who hopefully didn't know about her yet.

Sayuri couldn't help but notice that there were no questions about where she had come from. That was just as well, because she didn't feel comfortable saying so. She also saw that, just as with Irihi, there was no negative reaction to her ever-present Sharingan. In fact, Irihi's uncle and aunt seemed to want her to stay with them, which was a startling, though not necessarily welcome change. They were forgiving enough, and Irihi trusted them, but beyond that, Sayuri didn't like the idea of becoming dependent on them.

So, when no one was looking, Sayuri went back to what she had come to think of as her house. It was still mostly bare, but she had everything she needed, for the time being: clothing, running water, and... a white flower that hadn't been there when she left?

It was positioned carefully on her futon, so she couldn't miss it. There was no message attached, but she knew it was from Irihi. It was a lily, after all, and who else would think to give her something like that? Sayuri was so surprised by the gesture, she forgot to be angry that Irihi had been in her private space without permission. She didn't even really like flowers at all, but no one had ever given her a gift before.

* * *

"Pssst! Sayuri, wake up!"

Unfortunately, Sayuri knew at once that she wasn't dreaming. Those were always disturbing, and right now, she only felt annoyed because someone had woken her up in the middle of the night.

"Come on, wake up! I'm not leaving until you answer me!"

Seeing no other way to get back to sleep, Sayuri stomped over to the door and threw it open, aiming her most hateful glare at Irihi. "Go. Away."

Not surprisingly, the Hyuuga girl didn't take the hint. "I'm sorry I yelled at you yesterday. Did you get my flower?"

"I threw it away."

"You... oh," Irihi murmured, clearly disappointed. "Well, that's okay. Flowers aren't for everyone. So, I was hoping maybe we could go back to being friends?"

"No," Sayuri snapped. "We aren't friends, and we never were. I don't want any friends. From now on, we're rivals. So don't come here again unless you want to fight."

One of Sayuri's earliest memories was learning to read people's eyes. This was especially easy with Irihi, because her eyes changed slightly with every expression. But up until that moment, she had only seen Irihi display varying amounts of happiness, and a little displeasure.

This was the first time she had ever seen Irihi get angry. Those wide, pale lavender eyes flashed, and suddenly, it was as if the Irihi that Sayuri had known so far never existed. The girl standing before her suddenly seemed taller, by more than just the few inches that had separated them yesterday, and Sayuri felt her own body responding automatically, her muscles tensing as Irihi took a step forward.

"You're right about one thing, Sayuri. We're not friends. But we're not rivals, either. I don't think you know what you're saying... or who you're talking to. I am the heiress of the most powerful clan in this village." The veins around Irihi's eyes bulged threateningly as she stared down at Sayuri. "And you," the Hyuuga girl said softly, with a superior smirk on her face, "are not even in my league. You're beneath me. You literally can't be my rival. You're not strong enough to compete with me. I would destroy you... if you were even worth the effort, that is."

The words hurt, even more than Sayuri's had just hurt Irihi seconds before. But more than that, they made Sayuri furious. She knew precious little about her clan, but the one thing she knew for certain was that they were proud. And she wasn't about to let anyone take her pride.

She lunged at Irihi with almost no thought at all.

And Irihi, a girl she believed to be incapable of violence, simply raised her hand in a halting motion, as if that would protect her.

The next thing Sayuri knew, a great weight slammed into her chest, even though she was positive that Irihi never touched her. The air was brutally driven from her lungs, and she barely had the breath left to gasp as her body sailed the length of the room, crashed into the wall, and dropped limply to the floor. Her chest felt like it was on fire, and even though the room spun crazily for a moment, she could still make out a small, red stain on the wall that explained the warm wetness she could feel spreading through her hair.

Then Irihi was standing over her, and Sayuri instinctively curled into the fetal position, waiting for the next attack.

"Since you're still alive, I'll let you be my rival. I'm going to make you strong, and I'm never going to hold back like I just did. By tomorrow night, you'll be begging to be my friend again." With that, Irihi walked out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

Sayuri waited a few moments before slowly crawling across the floor to her futon. With a trembling hand, she dug out the white lily, holding it up in front of her face. Then, she flicked her wrist, tossing the flower into the air, just before she belched out a stream of flame that consumed the flower completely.

"You are my rival, Hyuuga Irihi," she whispered. "When I can destroy you, then I will be strong."

* * *

By the time she had run all the way home, Irihi's tears had finally stopped. The pain in her heart lingered, and she suspected it always would.

She had been so happy when she found out where Sayuri was staying, but now it wouldn't matter. She had lost her friend, and Sayuri would hate her forever. But at least Sayuri would soon be able to protect herself.

"Why couldn't you have been my friend, Sayuri?" Irihi whispered sadly. "Then I wouldn't have had to hurt you..."

**End of Part 1.**

* * *

Endnotes:

Soshina: little gift

Sayuri: small lily

If I understand the Sharingan correctly, even if the user doesn't have enough skill to perform a jutsu they've just seen, they could still master it days or even years after that point, without needing to see it again (assuming the jutsu can be copied, anyway).

The jutsu Jiraiya uses to restrain Sayuri can be considered a variant of Doton: Doryuheki (Earth Release: Earth Style Wall), where the user creates a wall in front of them by spewing out a stream of mud from the mouth that quickly solidifies. The only differences here are that the wall is instead a cocoon of sorts, and not really used for defensive purposes in this case.

Disclaimer: Uchiha Sayuri, Aburame Shinju, and Hyuuga Irihi belong to me, all other characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.


	2. Home and Away

Disclaimer: Uchiha Sayuri and Hyuuga Irihi belong to me, all other characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

Notes: As you may notice soon, this story proceeds much faster than "The Iron Hyuuga," and that's done on purpose. Irihi has a rich childhood full of memorable events, so that's where the focus is in her story. Sayuri grows up fast, and keeps getting hit with negatives in her life (remind you of anyone?). So the chapters won't really synch up at all, but then very little in Sayuri's life happens in an orderly fashion.

Summary: Jiraiya decides to further Sayuri's training by taking her away from Konoha. But Sayuri has grown more accustomed to life with the Uzumaki Clan than even she realizes.

**A Uchiha Among Uzumaki**

**Part 2: Home and Away**

**A Naruto Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (XMAN0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

Not for the first time, Naruto doubted himself as he watched Sayuri perform various fire-based jutsu on an unfortunate dummy he'd set up in the yard for her. He was never really sure if he'd been teaching her the right way.

She had learned everything the Academy had to offer her in the first month, not with her Sharingan, but by stealing (and then returning) Iruka's extensive curriculum notes. The part that bothered Naruto was that Iruka hadn't said anything, so either he hadn't noticed, or he didn't want to get Sayuri in trouble. Naruto knew very well that Kakashi had pulled some major strings to even get Sayuri into the Academy, and the first bad report would probably get her booted out. Ironically, it hadn't really mattered, as Sayuri only went to the Academy these days because Irihi was there.

At the very least, Naruto knew Sayuri was getting used to him and Hinata. She no longer glared at them just for getting close to her, and allowed Hinata to brush out her hair when it got too tangled or dirty. Just last night, Naruto had found her asleep under a tree where she'd been training. He had carried her back to her house, and though he could tell Sayuri woke up somewhere along the way, she pretended to remain asleep, testing him somehow. But he had only tucked her in, being sure she had an extra blanket in case there was a draft.

Naruto couldn't delude himself into thinking that Sayuri loved them, though. He wasn't even sure how he felt about her, to be honest. He wanted to keep her safe, and he wanted her to have all the chances that other kids did, but beyond that, he just didn't know. There wasn't even a desire to be affectionate, not only because Sayuri would refuse it, but because it would almost be like hugging Sasuke. The closest Naruto had ever gotten to that were the times when he and Sasuke forgot their training and simply brawled outright, punching and kicking and clawing at each other like animals until the aggression faded somewhat, and then they sagged against each other, catching their breath until one remembered himself and shoved the other away. And the only reason Naruto didn't try that with Sayuri was that he might really hurt her and strain things even more between them.

Hinata was optimistic almost to a fault. She kept inviting Sayuri to go with her when she went into the village, but Naruto had noticed Sayuri only went to the village for school, or to see Irihi. He'd also caught Sayuri practicing Gentle Fist stances, which he definitely hadn't taught her. Hinata claimed she hadn't either, but Naruto wouldn't have put it past her to train out in the open, where she hoped Sayuri might watch her. He'd done the same thing for the first few weeks of Sayuri's stay with them. But if the girl appreciated their efforts, she never thanked them, or said much of anything at all.

Nor would she turn off her Sharingan, which was more telling than anything else.

A loud hissing interrupted his thoughts, and Naruto looked up to find Sayuri's dummy dripping wet, apparently extinguished through some water jutsu she'd picked up somewhere. It occurred to him that Hinata might have a fit, if she'd known he let Sayuri play with fire without a reliable water source nearby, but he'd honestly forgotten. Anyway, he'd never seen burns on the girl, so either she hid them well, or she didn't have any. Sayuri didn't seem the type to make mistakes like that, though. She learned fast, and even when she didn't get things right the first time, she was always careful and calculating. It was a little unnerving, to be honest, but Kyuubi thought she was harmless, which really only meant she probably wouldn't kill anyone without good reason.

Now Sayuri was looking at him out of the corner of her eye, almost expectantly, but not giving him her full attention, as if he might accuse her of staring. Storing that bit of information for later, Naruto cleared his throat loudly, and had to suppress a grin when she turned to him at once.

"Hey, Sayuri... I, um, think I left something on the roof yesterday. Could you get it for me?"

There was a very long pause, in which the girl stared at him carefully. She probably knew that he'd purposely left something on the roof, and might have even seen him do it, but that wasn't the point. The point was, she would either do as he asked, or simply walk away.

Finally, without a word, Sayuri walked up to the side of the house, estimated the height with a long look, and then proceeded to climb. Naruto saw at once that she wasn't trying to walk or run, as most genin would have, nor did she pause to gather chakra (at least, she didn't do it in an easily noticeable fashion). Instead, she sort of skulked her way up, flattening her body against the side of the house, pulling and pushing herself upward with her hands and feet, respectively. She looked a great deal like a lizard, but reached the roof in a matter of seconds and quickly scrambled onto it.

Naruto watched with a straight face as she simply leaped down, something that certainly would've made Hinata's heart skip a beat, despite the fact that Sayuri pulled off spectacular leaps like that on a daily basis, if you knew when to watch her. She was clearly unimpressed with the task he'd given her, but said nothing as she held out the small, bright red toad plushie she'd just rescued.

"Actually, I just remembered I don't really need that anymore. You can keep it. Think of it as a reward."

Sayuri frowned at him, and looked as if she wanted to say something, but decided against it. She turned on her heel and stomped off, but she was still clutching the toad as she vanished into her house.

And Naruto smiled, because if he had just given it to her, she would've thrown it away. But now that she had earned it, she'd never be able to part with it. She had a very odd value system in her head, and hated to be given anything unless she absolutely couldn't survive without it. Yet when she earned something, no matter what it was, she would stash it in her house and look at it daily, as if reminding herself of her accomplishments. Naruto enjoyed slipping her useless things, because then he could at least pretend that she was hanging onto them for sentimental value.

* * *

"One more day," Sayuri reminded herself softly as she continued to set aside the items she would take on her journey. "One more day..."

One more day until Jiraiya came back to take her away from Konoha. Sayuri had no idea where they were going, and she didn't much care. The place didn't matter, so long as she could see well enough to copy jutsu. Nor did she stop to wonder for very long why Jiraiya had changed his mind so suddenly. Most likely it had something to do with one of the remaining Uchiha being nearby, but people were pretty tightlipped about them, and Jiraiya was no exception.

But the real reason Sayuri wanted to escape Konoha was that she just wasn't getting stronger fast enough. She was amassing an impressive collection of jutsu thanks almost entirely to Naruto and Irihi, but there was only so much she could learn through spying on others. Until she had a teacher that could instruct her on how to properly use her stolen techniques, she would never be a true force to be feared and respected.

And then there was Irihi, who was becoming increasingly confusing and infuriating at the same time. Despite her promise to treat Sayuri as a rival, she continued to act as if they were best friends. Certainly she would spar if Sayuri brought it up first, or defend herself if Sayuri attacked her without warning, but beyond that, nothing seemed to have changed from the very first time they'd met. It annoyed Sayuri, because she needed a rival, not a friend, and yet Irihi was still helping her progress, even if it wasn't as fast as she would've preferred.

So getting away from Irihi and focusing on training with Jiraiya would be a welcome change. There would be fewer distractions, and Sayuri had no doubt that she would get stronger under such conditions. With any luck, they would also be able to track down some clues to her past, assuming Jiraiya stopped trying to hide parts of it from her. Probably he thought he was protecting her, and even if he was, Sayuri would almost prefer to get hurt, if it meant getting even one answer.

* * *

Hinata had already convinced herself that she would not make too much a scene as she neared the Hokage Tower. Sayuri simply did not appreciate displays of affection, and probably the only thing worse than her usual unfeeling stare was her accusing, suspicious glare laced with enough killing intent to scare off even above average chuunin. She had never reacted well to people who tried to touch her before she'd known them long enough, and Hinata had only recently gotten to the point where Sayuri didn't mind a guiding hand on her shoulder the few times they ventured into the village together.

And yet, the thought of Sayuri leaving, and possibly never returning, had haunted Hinata's thoughts ever since Jiraiya first brought the girl into her home. But her fears were not without merit: the last two Uchiha had certainly set a worrisome precedent when it came to loyalty. At the moment, Sayuri was even less loyal to Konoha then Sasuke had been, since it had at least been his birthplace. Irihi was probably the only person in the village that Sayuri had a solid connection with, and even that was tainted with jealousy and anger.

With a sigh, Hinata tightened her grip on the staff in her hand as she nodded to the chuunin guards posted outside the tower. A few looked slightly edgy, no doubt due entirely to Sayuri's presence within. The Uchiha name still carried weight, just an entirely different kind now, and the girl's unpredictability hadn't eased anyone's fears in the least. Had she been in their place, Hinata would have been forced to admit that she would've felt safer with a Hyuuga or two present, just in case.

Thankfully, Sayuri was apparently behaving today, because no one inside seemed too nervous. Of course, Hinata had to reconsider that assumption, for the moment she stepped into the Office of the Rokudaime, the first thing she saw was Sayuri tossing shuriken at a faded picture of Kakashi on the wall. That would have gotten her jailed at the very least, if it weren't for the fact that she was taking turns doing so with Mitarashi Anko. Hinata couldn't help noticing that several shuriken were buried in Kakashi's tilted, lowered headband where his Sharingan was concealed, and if the displeased scowl on Anko's face was any indicator, all of those were Sayuri's.

"Damn, kid. You do know there's other places to aim, right?" Anko asked slowly.

Sayuri said nothing, although her gaze did shift quickly to Hinata, and then back to Anko.

"Are you sure that game is a wise choice, Anko-sama?" Hinata asked as politely as she could without sounding furious.

Anko sighed loudly. "Not anymore. That's three rounds I owe her for as it is. Never should've said you get bonus points for the eye..."

Shaking her head, Hinata carefully laid the bone staff on Kakashi's portion of the long, three-person desk Anko had her feet propped up on. She wasn't surprised to catch both Sayuri and Anko staring at the staff. Most people tended to be curious, or at least wary, around bones of such a large size.

"What is it?" Sayuri asked after a moment.

"Rightfully yours," Hinata replied simply. "It was given to me, years ago, by the last Uchiha of the Leaf. Now I'm giving it to you. I think you'll find it useful enough."

Anko only made a thoughtful noise and turned her attention back to the wall, probably trying to find a way to win the next round. Sayuri, however, was slowly sliding her gaze up and down the staff, studying every inch of it with her Sharingan. It was Hinata's hope that the girl would actually find even more uses for the staff than she had. At the very least, Hinata was curious about why Akamaru had never seemed to approve of her keeping the staff. She had once assumed that it was only because the staff had come from Sasuke, but now she thought it had more to do with the idea that Akamaru was slightly jealous, and just didn't want her to have it because he was more than capable of protecting her without help. Even now, Hinata was unable to pry a solid reason out of him, so her giving the staff to Sayuri (and effectively admitting that she herself had no more use for it) would probably put him in a good mood.

Hinata was just about to suggest that they go outside so Sayuri could get some practice in with the staff when she noticed a long shadow looming over Anko's chair, even as a pair of large, powerful hands seemed to appear out of thin air just above the older woman's head. It took a great deal of willpower for Hinata to keep herself from reacting visibly. After all, Anko SHOULD have known better than to encourage Sayuri to attack Kakashi, so maybe she deserved a little unpleasant surprise.

The fact remained that Anko had been the student of Orochimaru, and was a very capable kunoichi in her own right. So Hinata was not quite surprised when Anko reached up, and proceeded to yank her would-be attacker over her shoulder so hard that there was a very sickening crack when his back landed on her desk, and it was hard to say if one or both were broken.

"You might as well just wear a bell around your neck, you dirty old man," Anko sighed, shaking her head. "I swear you're the only shinobi I know that gives off hentai intent that powerful. And how many times do I have to say it? No groping me, EVER, without my permission!"

Hinata could only wince as Jiraiya gave Anko a weak smile that was one part sheepishness, one part pain, and two parts lechery. It seemed the old man would never change, but because Jiraiya was largely responsible for making Naruto the man he was today, Hinata had a small soft spot for him, and thought of him as a senile uncle that it was best to stay at least five feet away from at all times. He would never actually go so far as to grope her, but with someone like with Jiraiya, all he needed was his eyes to make you feel dirty.

And that didn't even take his mouth into account.

"Surely you can't blame a poor old man for wanting to lay his hands on such an inspiring, breathtaking beauty?" Jiraiya asked with a sly grin, subtly inching his fingers towards Anko's hip. He had almost made contact when Sayuri, in a show of impeccable timing, casually grabbed Jiraiya's foot and pulled, yanking him off of the desk and dumping him onto the floor in a pitiful heap.

"I am ready to begin our journey now, sensei," Sayuri said calmly, seemingly unaware that she'd just ruined the old man's fun.

Quickly getting to his feet, Jiraiya glared down at the girl as he ran a hand through his long, white hair. "Ungrateful little..." He trailed off as Sayuri leaped up, grabbed his thick, muscular arm with both her hands, and began to perform pull-ups as if he were some sort of living training block. His angry expression melted into a proud, watery smile as he stared at her. "So CUTE!" he cooed, drawing a scowl from Sayuri as she sped up her workout. "I can never stay mad at my Soshina!"

Hinata barely suppressed the pang of jealousy that shot through her, but there was really nothing she could do. Jiraiya had saved Sayuri's life, and though no one but them really knew the circumstances, he was the only positive human contact she'd had before he brought the girl to Konoha. There was also no denying that the only times Sayuri ever got excited was when Irihi or Jiraiya were mentioned, and probably more so in the latter case, since his constant traveling had kept his visits short. It didn't matter that Hinata and Naruto had been the ones to clothe, feed, teach, and house Sayuri. There seemed to be no more room in her heart for anyone, and not for the first time, Hinata wondered if Naruto's "hands off" policy was for the best. According to him, the Uchiha girl would work best largely on her own, and interfering would only earn them Sayuri's resentment.

"So how long you two staying gone for?" Anko asked abruptly, breaking into Hinata's thoughts.

"I suppose that depends largely on how fast she picks up what I have to teach her," Jiraiya replied with a thoughtful frown. "Naruto was an idiot when I found him, and even he managed great things when pushed hard enough. Of course, he didn't have the Sharingan, so I expect my Soshina will be able to cut his times in half, at least. Although we do have to take into account that he was already a genin..."

Sayuri glared at him. "I can do anything he did," she stated stubbornly.

Jiraiya laughed loudly. "Sure you can! With that kind of enthusiasm, it should only take us three or four years to get you in shape!"

Hinata could not stop the shocked gasp that slipped through her lips. "Four... years?" she whispered. She wanted to say that Sayuri was just a little girl that didn't even know who she was, but Hinata couldn't do that, not with Sayuri standing right there.

"No. Longer." Everyone turned to stare at Sayuri as she hauled herself up to sit on Jiraiya's shoulder. "We will not return until Irihi is about to attempt the chuunin exams."

That was even worse. Unless Irihi proved to have near jounin level abilities before she left the Academy, she wouldn't be taking the exams until six or seven years from now. And that was assuming that her team wouldn't train for an extra year as Neji's had.

It was too much to take in, and Hinata knew she had to leave before she embarrassed Sayuri and herself, or worse, got so upset that she endangered the health of her children. Taking a deep breath, she turned and quickly walked out of the office. It was difficult, since she no longer had the staff to support her, and she was trying to hurry without actually running, and on top of that, it was getting harder to breathe, either from all the exertion, the bad news she'd just gotten, or both.

To her credit, Hinata made it outside was a little over two blocks away before she finally had to stop and desperately clutch at her swollen belly, taking in great gulps of air. She knew instinctively that her children were fine (another of Kyuubi's unexpected but terribly useful gifts, no doubt), but it still felt as if someone had just ripped them out of her.

"Sayuri is not my child," she whispered, tears spilling from her eyes as she said it. "She isn't. I have no right to be upset about this. If this is what she wants, I can only be happy for her." But no matter how many times Hinata repeated the words, she could not convince herself to believe a single one of them.

* * *

Naruto had known that it wouldn't be a good day for Hinata. It would have been hard enough for her to see Sayuri off under normal conditions. He had honestly considered telling Hinata to stay home for the sake of their actual children. He would've felt horrible for a week at least, but he could not ignore his instincts, and every one of them had said that letting Hinata say goodbye to the girl was a bad idea, especially when she was carrying twins.

It had come as no real surprise when Neji walked through the gates shortly after noon, carrying a sobbing Hinata in his arms. Naruto had been worried to learn that Neji had found her wandering around the village with a hopelessly lost look on her face, but at the time, he'd just been glad that she was home, where he could look after her himself.

Not that there was much he could do at that point. Hinata spent much of the day in bed, and normally he would have joined her in a heartbeat, but Naruto could sense that she wanted to be alone. It was strange, really: he had performed feats bordering and beyond inhuman before he'd hit twenty, and yet none of them was quite as difficult as standing idly by while trying to ignore the strong scent of Hinata's tears. Even Kyuubi, though he stayed out of their disputes when possible ("Silly humans, always arguing over things that don't really matter," he was known to growl), was disturbed by how long Hinata cried. That only worried Naruto more, because while the demon fox had done little more than offer occasional advice where Hinata's pregnancy was concerned, it was understood between them that her health was top priority, and Kyuubi wouldn't have said anything unless there was a real risk involved.

"She's going to worry herself sick over the brat, so get in there and drag her out. Better to have her angry at us and healthy. At this point, the worst she could do is glare at you."

It was typical Kyuubi advice, but as Naruto hated to admit, no matter how heartless the fox seemed at times, he was almost always right when it came down to protecting the people that mattered most. True to Kyuubi's word, Hinata was not at all happy about being disturbed, but she did allow Naruto to lead her into the kitchen, where she reluctantly drank some weak tea. All Naruto really cared about was that she had stopped crying, so the fact that she barely said anything to him the whole time was a small loss at best.

After a couple of hours, though, the silence began to bother him. Hinata had always been quiet, and he'd gotten accustomed to that. But as they'd grown closer, she'd become more outgoing, and even more so when she first became pregnant. And again, Naruto hadn't minded that so much, because getting Hinata to speak her mind had always been a chore. But now that something was clearly bothering her, and she was refusing to share it largely out of spite, Naruto was starting to get... annoyed. And he couldn't really force it out of her; even if Hinata hadn't been pregnant, the idea of forcing her to do anything made him feel sick. Begging wouldn't help, either, since Hinata was currently mad enough to ignore him for the rest of the day. He thought briefly of asking Sakura or Shizune to come over, but decided against it: the presence of a medic-nin would imply that Hinata was sick (even though she technically was), and would only make her even angrier.

It was just after nightfall when they both heard Akamaru barking loudly. The disagreement was forgotten as Naruto leaped to his feet in an instant, pressing a kunai into Hinata's hand before he moved to the door. But in the few seconds it took him to get there, he could tell that Akamaru was excited, not upset. And if there had been a hostile intruder, Akamaru wouldn't have barked unless they were making no attempt to be stealthy.

Naruto opened the door wide, only to find Sayuri staring up at him blankly. She was panting as if she'd just run a great distance, and there were tiny twigs and leaves stuck in her dark hair. Before he could ask what had happened, she ran past him and went straight to Hinata, where she collapsed and buried her head in Hinata's lap, trembling uncontrollably.

"Sayuri?" Hinata gasped in surprise, hesitantly reaching down to stroke the girl's hair. She was probably having just as hard a time believing what she was seeing as Naruto was, since Sayuri had seemed largely against physical contact when it wasn't necessary. But at the same time, there was no mistaking the hint of relief and delight in Hinata's eyes, because this was the first time that Sayuri had actually seemed to need her.

By then, Jiraiya had appeared as well, confusion dominant in his expression when he finally located his runaway student. At Naruto's questioning glance, he shrugged. "Don't look at me. One minute we're walking, and then she took off like her hair was on fire. I figured she left something important behind."

"What happened, Sayuri?" Hinata asked softly, gently lifting the girl's head. "What made you come back?"

"I... wanted answers," Sayuri replied quietly. "But then I realized that there might not be any for me. If that's true, then..." She trailed off, biting her lip and tightening her grip on Hinata's legs. "You are the only mother I know. You might be the only one I'll ever know. And I couldn't just... leave."

For several seconds, Hinata only stared at Sayuri. Then she slowly looked up. "Jiraiya-sama, is there any way you could delay your trip until? I think Sayuri will have gotten over her homesickness by then."

The old man sighed dramatically. "Sure, why not? No point in leaving if she's just going to turn back around again. If you need me, I'll be over at-"

"Some place with lots of girls," Naruto supplied, waving him off. "We know, Ero-sennin."

Jiraiya glared, but said nothing as he vanished before their eyes.

* * *

Sayuri had always been able to explain her actions, if only to herself. She was a creature of logic, and so she searched for reasons behind everything.

She had almost been certain that the only reason Hinata mattered to her were the many similarities the woman had to Irihi. But Irihi had not been in Sayuri's thoughts as she ran back to the Uzumaki compound. Nor did the thought of leaving her rival behind haunt Sayuri anywhere near as much as the idea of never seeing Hinata's gentle, smiling face again. How was it that the soft-spoken woman who was more concerned with grooming and proper diet had left a greater impression than her loud, flashy husband, who was responsible for nearly half of Sayuri's recently acquired jutsu?

It just didn't make any sense.

But then, neither had the intense longing that had overwhelmed Sayuri's usually rational mind when she realized that she was leaving more than just a village of strangers behind. There was no explaining the odd, desperate need in her heart: to see pale, welcoming glow of Hinata's eyes beneath the night sky, to hear the ever faithful footsteps of Akamaru as he unfailingly sniffed her out, even to feel the strangely rewarding weight of Naruto's hand on her head if she got a difficult jutsu right on the first try.

She didn't care for them, barely even knew them, in fact. So why did they go to such lengths to prepare her for what would undoubtedly be a challenging life with few or no answers? And why was she having such a difficult time letting go of a family that she wasn't truly a part of?

Such attachments were supposed to make a ninja weak and soft. But Sayuri hadn't felt that way last night, as she slept between Naruto and Hinata in their bed. Naruto was like a soon to erupt volcano when he slept: making all sorts of rumbling noises that hinted at what was to come (fittingly, the only thing louder was the yawn he greeted the morning with). Hinata, on the other hand, barely made a sound, and how she managed to sleep at all next to Naruto was a total mystery. And even in the moments where Sayuri had been unable to sleep, she had still felt... safe. It was a new sensation, and one she was still largely unfamiliar with.

But feeling safe was even more likely to get her killed than just being weak and soft would have. People who thought they were safe were usually overconfident, and died wondering what had gone wrong. Sayuri had no intention of being confused when she died.

Still, it was hard to think about dying at all when surrounded by the Uzumaki. And maybe that was why Sayuri was suddenly so concerned with how she might end up living.

The only thing that did seem to make sense about this morning was that Hinata had opted to stay home, instead of seeing her off. That, Sayuri did understand. It was clear from Hinata's behavior that she wanted Sayuri to stay with them. Naruto had confirmed this when he muttered something about Hinata not feeling well today, when she had been fine last night.

Was it so hard to watch someone you barely knew leave? Sayuri wasn't sure, but she didn't question it much, not after her own actions last night. Admittedly, she would have felt odd if no one had seen her off. Irihi was at the Academy, and that was the only reason she wouldn't be present. And even though she didn't feel that close to Naruto, Sayuri also didn't mind being around him much. There was always a chance he might show her another jutsu, or say something useful (logic dictated that he almost had to at some point, as much as he usually talked). He was quiet today, though, and she wondered if he wanted her to stay as well.

The walk to the Hokage Tower seemed shorter this time, although maybe that was because they didn't actually go inside. Jiraiya was standing near the entrance, discussing something with a woman dressed almost entirely in black. Sayuri remembered her as one of several women that had examined her shortly after she came to the village. She couldn't remember the woman's name, but Naruto was predictably helpful in that area.

"Shizune nee-chan!" he shouted, catching the woman off guard as he hugged her from behind. "Baa-chan finally gave you a break, huh?"

Sayuri ignored the rest of the conversation, sensing they were only going to make small talk. But after a few minutes, Shizune extracted herself and, to Sayuri's surprise, showed her a very appealing jutsu that consisted of expelling toxic gas from the mouth. Sayuri had no experience with poison jutsu, but the technique quickly became one of her favorites for no reason that she could explain. Shizune promised to show her more the next time she was in the village, and even jotted down a few related techniques for Sayuri to try on her own.

Finally, Jiraiya claimed he was ready to leave, although Sayuri suspected they might make a detour past a couple of bathhouses on the way out of the village. She had barely taken her staff back from the old man when Naruto's voice stopped her.

"Sayuri, there's something you should know."

She turned to see him kneel down, so that his face was hovering just above hers. Not for the first time, Sayuri found herself staring directly into Naruto's deep blue eyes. There was a surprisingly solemn look on his face, and for a second, she almost wished he was smiling, since she was used to that.

"I know you really want some answers, and I hope you find the ones you're looking for. But if you ever need to go somewhere, to relax, to think, or to just not be alone... you can always come back here and stay with us, okay? Actually, you don't need a reason at all. We'll always have a place for you, if you want it."

"Why?" Sayuri asked softly.

Naruto shrugged. "I didn't have a family when I was your age, either. And I remember how badly I wanted one. Even if you don't feel the same way, you can think of us as your spare family, until you find the one you want. It's a pretty good deal. All you have to do is come back, and you'll have to do that anyway to be in the chuunin exams."

After a moment of consideration, Sayuri moved closer to him, grabbed his arm, and draped it around her shoulders.

Naruto just looked at her with an amused little grin. "What are you doing?"

"Accepting you as my spare father. But don't get TOO used to it... Naru-papa." She felt somewhat pleased with herself for not getting too mushy, at least until Naruto dragged her against his chest, his arm now wrapped firmly around her waist.

"Just remember the deal," he whispered in her ear. "You have to come back."

"You said that already," she pointed out.

He chuckled. "I know. But Hinata would kill me if I didn't tell you twice." Naruto squeezed her once before letting go.

Their little moment was pretty much ruined when they both noticed that Jiraiya and Shizune had silently burst into tears and were clinging to each other. And that didn't last long once Shizune figured out exactly where Jiraiya was trying to cling to her.

So they finally left, with Jiraiya coughing slightly from the faceful of poison gas Shizune had given him as a parting gift. He was none too happy to see Sayuri practicing that very same jutsu as they walked, because at least Shizune knew how to alter her mist so it wasn't lethal...

**End of Part 2.**

* * *

Endnotes:

Soshina: little gift.

Shizune's jutsu:

**Dokugiri (Poison Mist):** The user blows a toxic gas from their mouth.

I know Naruto and Sasuke are ninja, and training is everything. But they're also two boys who can't stand each other most of the time, and I'm betting there were times when they just put the training aside and duked it out for no other reason than they wanted to.

Yes, there is a reason I dragged the bone staff back into the story. I'll get around to explaining it eventually.

I feel like a super pervert should give off an aura when he's feeling particularly perverted (like killing intent, except for pervs). And since Anko has been known to get a little (or a lot) freaky herself, she can pick up on it easily.

You may have noticed that Sayuri's "training" has pretty much been whatever she could steal (or was freely given), and all from a small group. That will change somewhat now, but keep in mind she doesn't have as firm a foundation as an Academy student would. She looked at the same material, but had no formal teacher and therefore wasn't repeatedly drilled on the information, plus she had few people to correct her mistakes; and most importantly, she's stubborn.


	3. A Symbol for Sayuri

Notes: This chapter turned out longer than I originally thought it would be, but it's important in that Sayuri reaches a personal milestone.

Summary: Sayuri is confident in her newfound power as the chuunin exams draw closer. But challenges keep popping up: her sensei's crazy idea of a handicap, a best friend who gets stronger every day, and an Aburame with ANBU aspirations.

**A Uchiha Among Uzumaki**

**Part 3: A Symbol for Sayuri**

**A Naruto Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (XMAN0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

If someone had told Jiraiya years ago that he would one day end up in a bathhouse, alone with a striking young woman who trusted him to keep his hands to himself (or at least away from her), and that the only thing holding him back would be his own often highly questionable conscience, he would have laughed loud and long into the night.

And yet, even he was amazed that that very scenario had happened, not just once, but many times since he'd taken on Uchiha Sayuri as his student. Even more surprising was that each time, it had been at Sayuri's insistence. He wasn't sure if she was afraid of being alone, or if she just didn't trust him to stay away from other women, but she always insisted that they bathe together.

And, well, being himself, he had never put up too much of a fight, even though he knew Tsunade and countless other women would've beaten him bloody if they knew. Strangely enough, where Sayuri was involved, his luck with women overall seemed to have changed. Apparently nothing attracted the ladies quite like a single father, and though he rarely got the chance to enjoy the attention with Sayuri glaring at him, it was still a rather nice change. He didn't even mind that she'd somehow inherited Naruto's knack for ruining his "research," since discovering Sayuri's natural talents had been a surprising and worthwhile experience.

If nothing else, he would never again think Orochimaru insane... at least, not for remaining Anko's sensei for more than a day. Even though the snake-obsessed member of the Sannin had eventually used her for his own twisted purposes, the mere fact that Anko had been cast aside, instead of utterly destroyed, begged the question of whether Orochimaru had indeed felt something resembling affection for his young student. Anko would certainly never admit as much, and these days it was generally safer to assume that everything Orochimaru said freely was an outright lie or a carefully crafted exaggeration. Still, he'd had plenty of chances to kill Anko since, and because he'd never actually done it, Jiraiya was inclined to believe that if Orochimaru did want Anko dead, he was determined not to do the deed himself. It had to be that, because if Anko had meant nothing to him, he would have killed her without a second thought.

Jiraiya wasn't really worried about that in Sayuri's case, though. The worst she'd ever done was crack her bone staff over his skull for ogling random women, and fortunately he'd gotten somewhat used to that. If anything, he was amazed at how attached to him she'd become. There wasn't another female alive that would've trusted him to bathe with her without incident, and that meant something to him. It had not been easy getting to that point for either of them, but they'd managed somehow.

* * *

At the beginning of their journey, Sayuri had been even more stubborn than Naruto had, and often it had proven easier to let her have what she wanted. Sure, Jiraiya was much stronger and wiser, and technically should have been reigning her in, but there was only so much that could be done to cure the rather infamous Uchiha pride. He estimated that Sayuri's would have to take a few more major blows before she realized that she wasn't as skilled as she thought she was. He figured he could count on Irihi to deliver one of those blows during the chuunin exams, but it was best to get the others out of the way quickly, so Sayuri didn't end up making the same mistakes (or rather, the choices) that her two "uncles" had. Ironically, history had shown that the best way to take a Uchiha down a peg was to let a stronger one beat them senseless, but Jiraiya wanted Sayuri humbled, not tortured to the brink of her sanity and then killed.

He had been careful with her, though. To date, Sayuri hadn't received any formal training in her Sharingan. Kakashi had stayed as far from her as was possible (two of his inner demons were already Uchiha, and he wasn't looking for a third), and even though Jiraiya was one of the few non-Uchiha that might have been qualified to teach her anything about her bloodline limit, he was hesitant to do so. The last thing he wanted was for her to become over dependent on anything. Sayuri had figured out most of the expected Sharingan abilities with no instruction at all, but she had yet to master them. She couldn't hypnotize anybody more than a few years older than her for very long, and even though she could track and predict movement easily enough, for some reason, she simply could not transmit the visual data to the rest of her body fast enough to do very much about it.

In other words, she was slow. For a promising kunoichi, her speed was below average, and for a Uchiha, well, she was practically standing still.

Jiraiya had no idea what to do about that. He knew how to increase speed, and how to manipulate time and space through pre-applied seals. But nothing he'd tried with Sayuri seemed to work. Even when she attempted to enhance the performance of her muscles with chakra, she'd only ended up sweating twice as much and wasting chakra. It was as if her body had built-in weaknesses that could not be altered or fixed in any way. The truly frightening thing was that that might have very well been the case.

Fortunately, he hadn't needed to tell Sayuri any of that. When the speed exercises had done no good, she had simply asked if they could work on strengthening her defenses, and they had. Probably because she'd had earlier exposure to them, Sayuri had little difficulty with the various Doton jutsu he showed her, generally being able to perform them within minutes of seeing them for the first time. The other elements were more taxing for her, and though she eventually made them her own as well, they were used sparingly in battle, usually when she was running out of options.

It was only when they began to have "serious" spars that Sayuri accidentally discovered where her true talent had been hiding. With no warning at all, Jiraiya had introduced her to the Rasengan at point-blank range, with just enough power to leave her rattled for a few hours. He'd expected her to just take the hit, possibly after trying (and failing) to block it with a hasty Doton shield.

Instead, Sayuri had "caught" the Rasengan, keeping it bay for a few seconds by forcing out a great deal of chakra through her hands. And just when she should've reached her limit, something truly unusual happened.

The Rasengan vanished, and a moment later, Sayuri belched out a tiny, violet ball of highly-pressurized air. More curious than anything else, Jiraiya had let the attack hit him, and spent the next few hours vomiting. Afterwards, Sayuri admitted to having no idea she was capable of such a feat, but maintained that he deserved it for using such a strong technique on her first. The mysterious attack would become the precursor of a much greater ability, one that Jiraiya would later be forced to classify as a second bloodline limit entirely, due to the wide scale implications it had on Sayuri's body.

They'd already known that there was a constant supply of chakra being routed to Sayuri's eyes. For any other Uchiha, the Sharingan was willfully activated, but for Sayuri, in theory, she would have to exert an extraordinary amount of willpower if she was to ever turn it off. In that respect, her situation was similar to Kakashi's, the big difference being that Sayuri's body naturally produced enough chakra to keep her Sharingan activated indefinitely. According to Hinata, where Rock Lee barely had any extra chakra to draw on normally, Sayuri inexplicably always had at least enough to keep her Sharingan, even when exhausted. It was strange, but it did help explain why Sayuri sometimes could not instantly summon a large amount of chakra several minutes into a battle, or why her body refused to be enhanced by chakra, period. But the latter turned out to be directly related to her newfound bloodline limit.

Sayuri had quickly named it Poison Soul, which made Jiraiya feel so guilty that he'd made a point to hug her more often, no matter how much she protested. Unfortunately, that meant he often picked up nasty rashes or various other ailments while she tried to get her new abilities under control. Put simply, Sayuri could excrete poison, in virtually any form, from anywhere on her body. Beyond that, her chakra itself automatically converted to poison if she didn't release it regularly. It was unfortunately very similar to a snake shedding its skin every few days (and just as appealing to watch), but it also meant that Sayuri could convert foreign chakra for her own use (which was how she'd "poisoned" his Rasengan, although it had more closely resembled one of Shukaku's old attacks).

Fortunately, Sayuri had mastered her Poison Soul with surprising speed, and it was easily the strongest, most adaptable weapon in her arsenal. Combined with her Sharingan, Sayuri was unlikely to have very many serious challengers in the chuunin exams, but then nobody expected a student of Jiraiya's to be weak.

But Jiraiya needed for Sayuri to feel challenged, and the best way to do that was to give her a handicap that would force her to come up with new strategies on the spot, just like every other participant in the chuunin exams would be.

* * *

"You had better not be dreaming of naked women, Jiraiya-sensei."

The old man blinked and scowled at his student through the steam. He had no idea how Sayuri always managed to find the one bathhouse nearby that allowed for co-ed bathing. On second thought, it was far more likely that she'd threatened the manager at each one. He had noticed that they never visited the same bathhouse twice...

"Are you looking forward to the chuunin exams, Soshina?" he asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Not really," she answered, giving him a long look to let him know that she hadn't forgotten the previous topic. "I expect Irihi will be the only real challenge."

"Would you care to make it more interesting?" Jiraiya murmured, a devious grin spreading across his face.

To that, Sayuri said nothing, but she was obviously listening.

"I want you to lock down your Poison Soul during the exams," he announced. "No poison-related jutsu or abilities, at all, until they're done."

Quite predictably, Sayuri was not pleased. "That decreases the effectiveness of most of my best jutsu by half," she stated, her voice flat.

"Then I guess you'll just have to come up with some more, won't you?" Jiraiya cackled gleefully. "And I'm not going to show you anything new until after the exams, so if you're planning to steal some moves, you'll have to get them from somewhere else. If you were smart, though, you'd be working on the Triple S regimen I designed for you."

"Sharingan, summoning, and stupidity, you mean?" she asked dryly.

"You know damn well that it's showmanship, not stupidity!"

"I am not doing that idiotic dance before a fight. It is completely disgraceful, not to mention useless."

"You kids today have no sense of style," Jiraiya grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and sulking a bit. "What's the point of being able to copy nearly everything if you fail to recognize the parts that are truly worth copying?"

Sayuri sighed lightly. "It seems that the more I learn from you, the more we tend to disagree on certain points. Honestly, I don't think you should be that surprised. I've seen the way you and Naru-papa fight. You can't even get him to stop calling you Ero-"

"Don't you start, too!"

"I apologize. But I am still not going to dance."

He sniffed dramatically. "And you young people always wonder why your elders are all bitter. It's because nobody respects and cherishes them anymore."

There was a long pause before Sayuri spoke.

"You don't really believe that, Jiraiya-sensei. You wouldn't still call me Soshina if you did. Nor would I answer to it when you did, if I felt any differently about you."

"It's still nice to be appreciated sometimes," the old man insisted. "At best, Naruto could've only showed you half of the things I have, and he certainly couldn't have explained them very well. He's always been ninety percent instinct, and twenty-five percent dumb luck."

"That doesn't add up."

He chuckled. "It never had to with him. You, on the other hand, have some very real limits that you need to start recognizing, little lady. And one of the best ways to do that is to work on the three areas you know you need to improve. Summoning in particular, since being able to pull off bigger and better summons gives you a very realistic idea of how well you're improving the size of your chakra reserves. And you'll need more than that even if you ever manage to summon Gamabunta. He doesn't impress easily, and he definitely won't like the fact that you're a Uchiha."

Summoning was definitely not one of Sayuri's preferred tactics. She thought that depending on anyone else to win was wrong, and aside from that, she could barely stand people in general, so dealing with talkative toads hadn't been easy, either. Still, Naruto's name carried some weight with them, and a few of the toads were willing to overlook the fact that the last Uchiha had signed up with the snakes. So far, Sayuri had only managed to tame a young, yellow toad called Yon, who behaved a great deal like an eager younger brother (even going so far as to affectionately refer to her as "onee-chan," much to her unease). At first, he wasn't very useful, being only slightly larger than Naruto's Gama-chan (in other words, just barely able to fit in one of Sayuri's hands). Sayuri had won him over simply by allowing him to ride on her head occasionally, and with some coaching, trained him to spit oil on command. It was a slow start, but Jiraiya had it on good authority that Yon had older brothers, all more powerful than him. With any luck, they would come to accept her as well.

"I have no intention of ever needing that much help in a fight," Sayuri pointed out. "And even if I did, I'd know better than to get pulled into such a battle."

"Well, that's nice in theory," Jiraiya chuckled, "but you usually only get to pick your battles when you're smarter or stronger than everyone else."

"Then I will be," she replied simply.

He eyed her for a long moment before smiling. "That's what I like to hear! And to help you along, did I mention you'll have to survive the chuunin exams all by yourself? Oh, and if anyone manages to hit you, I want you to give me a full report on how they did it, what YOU did wrong, and how you're going to make sure it never happens again."

It was remarkably easy to see the Sharingan piercing through the steam. "For every opponent?"

"For every hit."

Jiraiya was very obviously an older man, and he hadn't gotten that way by ignoring his instincts. So when he got a very strong suspicion that Sayuri might be reaching for her bone staff, he quickly moved it out of her reach, grinning triumphantly.

"Now, now, Soshina. I thought we agreed that you were only allowed to punish me when I'd actually done something worth punishing?"

"It's your own fault for tempting me, Jiraiya-sensei."

"Oh, really?" he asked calmly. "So long as you don't get hit, you have nothing to worry about. You're the only one that can lighten your workload there. Besides, how can you expect to beat a Hyuuga genius if you're not constantly on your toes?"

"Irihi is many things," Sayuri said slowly, "but genius is nowhere on the list. She is strong, and she will be difficult to defeat, but that has nothing to do with her thinking capacity. If anything, she has displayed a remarkable lack of thinking for one so talented."

Jiraiya shook his head. "I suppose you're going to tell me that you think she's stupid, simply for trying to be your friend?"

"No. She is stupid for trying to be my only friend, and believing that I needed that more than I did a competent sparring partner."

"I don't suppose it's occurred to you that being one actually made being the other easier?" he suggested with a sigh. "Sparring with a friend is easy, you know each other's limits. Being friends with a sparring partner is tricky, since you're so used to beating each other up. You were very lucky to find someone who can do both well, and actually volunteered herself for double duty. She must really be devoted to you."

Sayuri had no response to that, which was just what Jiraiya had been hoping for.

* * *

"Here, put these on."

Sayuri had every right to be instantly suspicious when her teacher uttered those words just a few minutes away from Konoha. Anything he wanted her to wear would probably be embarrassing at the least, and scandalous at the most. So she was quite surprised when he handed her a simple black traveling cloak, and a noticeably blank headband. The cloak turned out to have a tiny red and white fan inside the collar, but it would be hard to spot unless you were standing directly in front of the person wearing it.

"You can be proud of who you are, but it's still smart not to advertise it too much," Jiraiya explained. "And that goes for any ninja, not just the Uchiha. Unless, of course, you're famous like I am!"

His student just rolled her eyes. "And this?" she asked, indicating the headband.

"In the chuunin exams, you're going to run into many different people, each of whom probably has very different reasons for fighting overall. When you figure out what you want to fight for, and you want everyone to know it, you'll put it there. If anyone asks, just tell them you haven't made up your mind yet."

Sayuri scowled at him. "You really expect me to walk into a Hidden Village, which no doubt has increased security for the chuunin exams, without a clear sign of where my loyalty lies? The only reason I got away with it last time is because you were with me, and I was too young to be considered a real threat."

"You make an excellent point, Soshina," Jiraiya said with a wide grin. "In that case, I guess the only safe place I can drop you is just outside the village, while I go ahead and make sure there won't be any problems later. It might even take a few days, possibly a week, so we'd better find a place where you'd be accepted without question. Can you think of any place like that?"

"Fine, I'll go home," she grumbled, pulling on the cloak and slipping the headband into one of the inner pockets.

Thankfully, Jiraiya decided not to tease her any further. When they parted at the gates of the Uzumaki compound, Sayuri watched him casually approach the village gates, probably so he wouldn't get the guards in trouble by suddenly appearing behind them. Oddly enough, one advantage to being a super pervert was that you got pretty good at being sneaky, and at times Sayuri wondered if maybe her sensei had become a ninja solely to improve that particular skill.

The front yard was strangely quiet as Sayuri took her first steps into the compound. She had half-expected Akamaru to greet her at the gates, or at least to see the twins playing outside. Perhaps they'd all gone into the village to do some shopping or visit with friends.

Not particularly disappointed, Sayuri headed for her house, and had nearly reached it when she felt the uneasy sensation of someone watching her. Before she could get a bead on where the ambush might come from, she was tackled from behind.

"Sayuri-chan!" a familiar, delighted voice squealed in her ear as they hit the ground. "You're back!"

Sayuri sighed, glad that her attacker didn't weigh much more than she did. "Honestly, Irihi. You're nearly as bad as Akamaru."

"I figure you'd be more annoyed if I tried to lick your face," Irihi said, grinning as she hopped up and pulled Sayuri back to her feet. "So, learn anything cool while you were away?"

"You'll have to wait and see," Sayuri replied firmly, taking in her rival with a long look. Irihi had always been a little taller than her, despite their being roughly the same age, and that hadn't changed at all. The only real difference that Sayuri could spot was the numerous silver bands around Irihi's arms and legs. They resembled thick bracelets, but Irihi didn't seem the type to bother with jewelry, or much decoration at all, for that matter. "What are those?" she finally asked.

"My new weights!" Irihi replied at once, clearly very proud as she flexed just a little. "Mama made them for me, because she didn't want me wearing orange leg warmers like Lee-san. Oh, hey, is this new?" Without even asking, she began inspecting Sayuri's cloak.

A small but noticeable wave of jealousy rolled over Sayuri, but she squashed it quickly. Irihi had been fast before she started wearing weights, and her speed had been unbelievable once she got used to them. But when Sayuri had tried the same method, she'd only been able to run longer, not faster. It bothered her that Irihi had surpassed her in that area, because that made it even more likely that her rival was superior to her in other areas as well. At the very least, she knew Irihi wouldn't brag about that sort of thing, although sometimes that seemed like more like pity, even though Irihi had always denied it.

"Where is everyone?" Sayuri asked abruptly, trying to keep her mind on other topics.

"In the village," Irihi replied absently, letting go of the cloak. "Hinata oba-san and Akamaru went to the bakery, and Naruto oji-san wanted to show the twins some of the old chuunin exam sites. They'll probably be gone for a while, so we might as well get some sparring in before-"

"Irihi-chan!" a voice shouted from the main house. "Are you still sneaking around in the bushes out there? I thought we were going to work on that move you've been trying to perfect?"

"I forgot, I invited my teammates over," Irihi sighed. "Give me a minute and I'll get rid of them, Sayuri-chan. Then I can show you this move I've been trying to get just right, and-"

"I would think," Sayuri interrupted, "that you'd be more comfortable showing the move to a teammate, instead of an opponent. We are going to be fighting in the chuunin exams, after all."

Irihi frowned at her. "So? I'll probably have to fight Hanako, too. Anyway, I have no intention of using this move on you there. I'm saving it for whoever my first opponent is in the final part of the exams. If it's you, I'll just save it for the next opponent. So will you help me out? I bet trying to defend against it will improve your stamina, too."

"Fine," Sayuri relented after a moment of thought.

"Great! Be right back!" Irihi turned to run to the house, only to freeze as the door flew open. "Uh oh..."

"Irihi! What are you..." The pink-haired girl standing in the doorway paused, her green eyes blinking curiously at the Uchiha. "Who's your friend?"

A blond boy peeked over her shoulder. "You remember, Hanako. She was in our class for a little while. Uchiha Sayuri, I believe. Although it has been a long time since anyone saw her around. She can't have been here the whole time."

"She's been traveling," Irihi offered quickly. "Anyway, she and I were just about to go-"

"Are you brushing us off, Irihi?" Hanako demanded, her eyes narrowing.

"Look, it's not like that! It's just... she's my best friend, and-"

"I thought Shinju was your best friend?" Isai asked slowly.

Sighing, Irihi rolled her eyes. "Yes, she WAS, back when she was my ONLY friend. But once I got a choice, Sayuri got the position, and Shinju accepted it. And since I get to see you two all of the time, I'm sure you can understand why I'd want to spend some time with my best friend, who's rarely ever around, right?"

Hanako was far from satisfied, however. "How come you've never mentioned her? Or introduced us?"

"She's not a people person, and it was her call. Now, it's one thing if you're jealous, but if you're questioning my taste in friends, then-"

Sayuri loudly cleared her throat. "In my clan, we keep the details of our lives to ourselves. Even Irihi only knows so much about me, and she knows me better than most. Surely you can understand following your family's traditions?"

Hanako took a rather threatening step forward. "In my family, we protect those close to us. That means it's my business to know Irihi's business, which apparently also includes your business now. So if you plan to keep hanging out with Irihi, I suggest you get used to the idea of a four-man team, since Isai and I aren't going anywhere."

"We are losing valuable practice time, Irihi," was Sayuri's only response as she turned and headed for her house. She soon heard Irihi's footsteps following, and just behind them, two other pairs. It wasn't exactly a desirable situation, but if Irihi didn't care about her teammates seeing a less than perfect move of hers, then Sayuri figured there was no problem, so long as they stayed out of the way.

* * *

Nearly three hours later, Sayuri was lying semi-comfortably on a couch, wondering why she had ever agreed to be Irihi's guinea pig. She could now only feel a dull ache in her chest, thanks to Hanako's admittedly skilled (but somewhat reluctant) healing. On the plus side, Irihi claimed her new move was just about complete, thanks to the numerous attempts they'd run through. That was good for her, because Sayuri had no intention of ever volunteering herself again.

She had also come to the conclusion that Hanako and Isai were rather harmless. There wasn't much they could do to interfere with her, so long as she continued to live just outside of village control. Anyway, Hinata made a regular habit of giving the gate patrol free Sunny Buns, so no one leaving the Uzumaki compound would have any trouble getting into Konoha. Irihi traveled between the village and the compound so often that the guards didn't bother to stop her anymore. Sometimes they gave her classified messages to pass on to Naruto and Hinata (and Hanabi always made sure that Irihi got credit for such missions, even if Irihi politely declined to be paid for them).

Irihi's technique had taken more out of Sayuri then she realized, though, and she fell asleep several times, only to finally be awakened by a cold, wet nose poking her cheek. She looked up to see Akamaru and Hinata standing over her, both with huge smiles on their faces. Sighing, Sayuri carefully sat up and patted Akamaru's nose before turning to Hinata. "There are far more comfortable ways to wake me up, Hina-mama."

"I would've hugged you instead, but Irihi said you might be a little sore," Hinata explained, barely resisting the urge to giggle.

Sayuri shook her head. "It's mostly gone now." Instantly, she found Hinata's arms wrapped around her, and sighed patiently.

"I missed you so much, Sayuri," Hinata murmured into her hair. "We all did. I hope you know that."

"I know, Hina-mama," Sayuri said quietly, leaning forward to let her head rest lightly on Hinata's shoulder. "You always remind me."

"So you'll never forget," was the instant reply. "Are you hungry? We can have whatever you want for dinner."

"Anything but ramen or dango," Sayuri decided quickly. As an afterthought, she asked, "What do the twins like?"

"Ramen and dango," Hinata answered with a pained look. "It's all Anko's fault, stuffing them silly whenever she takes them out. They only like it because they know they're always going to get tons of it."

"What does Akamaru like?" Sayuri tried as a last resort. For all the sweets the dog consumed, he never really seemed overweight, just... big.

"Meat and Sunny Buns," Hinata replied without much thought. "Sometimes meat between two Sunny Buns. He gets most of his exercise following the twins around. Maybe you could take him along when you go out tomorrow?"

With a moment of thought, Sayuri probably could have come up with several reasons to refuse the request. But Akamaru faithfully guarded her house while she was away, which had earned him the rank of a useful annoyance in her eyes, so she didn't really mind spending time with him. He'd also be useful for barging into the Hokage Tower if she wanted to catch up with Shizune and Anko.

Anyway, it was hard enough saying no to Hinata normally, and very near impossible when she pouted (which was a signal for Akamaru to lay on the floor and whine pitifully, of course).

Finally, she nodded, earning a grateful nudge from Akamaru, and could only get him to back off by petting him again. He took the hint and wandered outside, leaving Sayuri free to follow Hinata into the kitchen.

"If you can't wait for dinner, you can try my new recipe," Hinata said, gesturing to the seemingly ever-present pile of cinnamon rolls on the counter. "We're still testing the new package design, as you might have guessed."

It took Sayuri ten seconds to spot the real change in the wrapper. Where there had once been a white puppy happily rolling in grass under the logo, there was now a white puppy happily curled around something with a reddish-orange tint. At first glance, it could have been mistaken for a rubber ball, or even a miniature sun, but Sayuri was one of the few people that would have picked out the tiny fox cub's long tail hiding its sleeping face. It wasn't quite as daring as calling the treats Kyuubi Buns (or even Uzumaki Buns, which had been discarded entirely because Naruto would pose with his hands on his hips and flex his "buns" whenever he heard the phrase), but it was something.

Naruto had told her all about Kyuubi the first time she caught him sniffing people out from a mile away. Sayuri was honestly glad when he finished, because any reason he might have come up with on the spot would have been even more unbelievable, and she'd already been doubting his sanity at that point. She hadn't even needed to see the faded seal on his belly, because the story explained so much. Only two kinds of people would've worn that much orange while trying to become a ninja: an idiot, or someone whose sealed fox spirit was missing its fur.

The thought of Naruto housing Kyuubi had never bothered her. He'd never lost control around her, and Hinata would not have had children with a monster, so Sayuri saw no reason to fear him. For her, Kyuubi's existence was more a matter of faith, since the signs were few and far between, and most could've been explained away as part of a primal bloodline limit. She had seen too many Inuzuka in action to be afraid of claws and a little snarling. Anyway, Enten had inherited several of Naruto's gifts, and it was hard to take the larger one seriously when the smaller one could do much the same, while still managing to be rather cute, in Irihi's biased opinion.

Thinking of Kyuubi reminded Sayuri of something she had yet to decide. In recent years, Naruto had changed the design on his headband. Formerly, it had simply been a spiral design that she assumed meant he was fighting largely for himself, and his family. But now, his forehead protector simply bore the kanji for 'kitsune.' Likewise, Hinata's now read 'inu,' (although she still wore it around her neck) while Akamaru chose to keep his slightly battered Leaf symbol. Sayuri had never bothered to ask why, assuming they each had their reasons, but now she had to admit that she was curious.

"Why has Akamaru not changed his symbol?" she asked quietly. "Shouldn't it be the same as yours?"

"No, and I'm very glad it isn't," Hinata replied with a smile. "For a ninja, a mark worn in plain sight, where everyone can see, is a symbol of pride. It shows what you stand for, what you believe in, what you would give your very life for. In most cases, that would be the village they currently serve, if not the one they were born in. But in special cases, those marks can mean something else entirely, or have several meanings. In Akamaru's case, he has family in the village, and his former partner wore that very same mark. He wears it to remind himself of who he once was, and who he still is. Also, I think it makes the guards a little less nervous that one of us still bears the Leaf symbol."

"So why did you change yours, Hina-mama?"

"There are... certain aspects of the village I cannot support any longer," Hinata answered quietly. "Some ninja, as they become older and wiser, find that belonging to a village is something they outgrow. Naruto and I both risked our lives to remain in Konoha, and we found that there were greater forces in our lives, forces that we owed more allegiance to than the village we were born in. So I wear this mark to remind myself that a dog saved my life, and I would be proud to return that kindness to every dog I meet. It's largely the same for Naruto, but a bit more personal, I suspect."

"Then what is my symbol meant to be?" Sayuri asked softly.

Hinata reached out and lightly ruffled her hair. "I don't know, Sayuri. You must decide that for yourself. Don't let anyone influence your decision, unless you're willing to let that person guide your purpose in life. But I think you'll be much happier if you find your own answer."

"But what if my symbol is something you and Naru-papa don't agree with?"

"You will always have a place here, Sayuri. I know I tell you that all the time, but I never thought you'd actually forget. Besides, I think you'd have to look very hard to find a symbol that could offend Naruto. As for me, I'm not in the habit of abandoning my children for any reason."

A cold weight settled in Sayuri's belly, and she looked away, closing her eyes tightly. A few years ago, she would have almost reflexively reminded Hinata that they were in no way related. Even now, though she didn't accept the words as complete truth, there was no denying the unsettling sensation whenever Hinata made no effort to differentiate between Sayuri and the twins. At first, Sayuri had just passed it off as a quirk, but now she honestly worried for Hinata's health. While she didn't know exactly what life had in store for her, Sayuri had a strong suspicion that she wouldn't be staying with the Uzumaki Clan for much longer, and when that day came, she didn't want Hinata to feel like she'd lost a child.

"Please let me go now, Hina-mama," Sayuri murmured, "before you can't let go at all."

"Did you say something, Sayuri?"

Blinking, Sayuri looked up to see Hinata staring at her curiously. She opened her mouth, ready to tell the woman once and for all that things could not go on the way they had. And yet, something completely different came out.

"No, Hina-mama. I was just thinking that ramen and dango would be fine."

"Well, if you're sure..." Hinata replied slowly, giving her another chance to change her mind.

"I'd rather have a dinner that mostly everyone will enjoy. There's no point if only one person likes it."

Hinata smiled brightly. "I'm sure Naruto and the twins will appreciate that."

* * *

The rest of the day passed quickly for Sayuri. Before she knew it, Naruto came home with the twins, and all three were excited to have her back. Even Tsuki, who usually kept her distance out of fear and uncertainty, shyly came forward and offered Sayuri a striking purple flower she'd picked somewhere. Sayuri's first thought was that the color might make excellent war paint, but correctly assumed that Tsuki would be crushed if she had ground up the flower then and there.

Sayuri made the mistake of mentioning summoning during dinner, and immediately afterwards, Naruto dragged her out into the yard to see what she could do. He wasn't at all disappointed when she brought out her shamefully small toad, and instead called the twins out to play with it. Sayuri didn't like the idea much, but Naruto knew better than she did, because suddenly there were two human-sized toads sitting in front of her, saying she had earned the right to call upon any of the Four Famous Toad Brothers. Sayuri suspected (and Naruto agreed) that the brothers weren't quite as famous as they thought they were, but wisely accepted the honor in silence.

The twins were thrilled, and Sayuri had mixed emotions when Tsuki loudly announced that she was going to tell everyone that HER big sister knew how to summon. In the end, Enten convinced Tsuki not to tell anyone, since he didn't want everyone knowing Sayuri's strategy for the chuunin exams. Sayuri might have kissed him if it weren't so out of character for her, but simply made do with a slight nod.

However, Sayuri quickly learned that the Toad Brothers came with several drawbacks. Yon couldn't seem to remember more than three commands at a time, which would force her to keep him close so he wouldn't be attacked before he could prove useful. Even worse, his brothers, San and Ni, could only be summoned together, and if Sayuri didn't use enough chakra, she would only get a larger version of Yon (which only made him a bigger target). But the most frustrating thing was that no matter what she did, Sayuri couldn't gather enough chakra to summon the final brother.

Naruto claimed she only needed a little practice, but Sayuri still went to bed thoroughly displeased. It was bad enough that she might have to depend on something other than herself to win, but if she did, she actually wanted that something to be dependable in the first place. But Yon was a joke (a rather bad one), Ni and San were too costly to bring out in a fight, and their final sibling wouldn't even appear for her. She'd have been better off trying to summon one of the toads that didn't have a preferred summoner, but with Jiraiya always calling the older ones out to drink in bathhouses, and Naruto calling the younger ones to play with his kids, there were very few toads that didn't have a favorite already. And knowing Jiraiya, he'd probably gone behind her back and told those toads that Sayuri already had a personal summon that she was supposed to be working with. Just the thought of being stuck with Yon and his brothers for the rest of her career made Sayuri want to drown herself in the nearest bathhouse. With any luck, Jiraiya would swear off women out of guilt, assuming Naruto and Hinata didn't beat him to death first.

Not surprisingly, Sayuri fell asleep with that strangely comforting image in her head, and a faint smile on her face.

* * *

Oddly enough, Sayuri did get stopped as she and Akamaru tried to pass through Konoha's gates the next morning, but it wasn't because Jiraiya had forgotten to warn them she was coming. Instead, Irihi had left a note with the guards, instructing Sayuri to meet her at the Yamanaka flower shop around noon so they could review Iron Fist. It didn't sound like a very good place to practice one of the most destructive taijutsu styles ever invented, but Irihi had had far stranger ideas that turned out for the best, so Sayuri didn't question it… much. Thankfully, none of the guards commented on her lack of a headband (probably because she was with Akamaru), and if the single ANBU present (who was probably a Hyuuga, from the way he seemed to look right through her) had a problem with the one in her cloak being blank, he kept his mouth shut.

The village was largely the same, and even if it hadn't been, Akamaru knew his way around. Sayuri hadn't quite decided where she was headed first, so she was content to let him lead for a while. She was a little hungry, but it was too early for most places to be open. Even Ichiraku's, where only female Uzumaki ate free (otherwise, they'd be eaten out of business inside a day), kept standard business hours, although Sayuri knew if she went to the trouble of visiting Ayame at home, she and Akamaru wouldn't be allowed to leave until they were both full. Sayuri was of the opinion that the well-meaning ramen chef was too curious about her own life, but like most people, she was willing to put up with minimal hassle for free, good food.

Sayuri still hadn't decided on a destination when she spotted something truly odd. Two heavily bandaged people were sitting on a nearby rooftop, and doing little else. Both seemed strangely familiar, and it was only when she got closer that Sayuri recognized the smaller one as Aburame Shinju (ironically enough, because she was used to Shinju wearing outfits that hid her features).

Shinju noticed her as well and waved. That hinted that she really was hurt, because Shinju was nothing if not well-mannered, and normally she would have jumped down to greet any friend of Irihi's directly. Knowing that, Sayuri almost felt obligated to go up and say hello. She was also curious about the other person, who was wearing a jounin vest. She couldn't really be blamed for not knowing him, as there were more than a few jounin with their faces completely or partially obscured by bandages.

"I did not realize that you had already returned to the village, Sayuri-san," Shinju remarked, slowly standing up so she could bow politely.

It was terribly easy to spot the bandages on Shinju's arms and legs as she moved, and Sayuri wondered if it would be terribly rude to ask how she'd been injured. Fortunately, Shinju noticed her gaze lingering, and decided to save her the trouble.

"Training accident. I was overconfident, and now I am fittingly humbled. It would have been much worse, if Kouji-san hadn't heard the noise and found me right away. He was just offering me some tips as to how I could better conserve my energy by altering the way I move."

Sayuri gave the jounin a long, considering look, and for his part, Nara Kouji stared right back, his large, yellow eyes blinking in a manner that was too innocent for her liking.

"Will you still be able to participate in the chuunin exams?" Sayuri asked, turning back to Shinju.

"Yes, even if I have to do so in less than perfect condition. I have too much riding on my performance not to give my best effort."

There was no need to ask what Shinju meant. She had spoken rather plainly about her desire to join ANBU, at least in front of Sayuri and Irihi. And as harmless as he seemed, Nara Kouji was probably one of Konoha's best assassins not currently in ANBU. A recommendation from him practically guaranteed that Shinju would soon be hiding her face behind a mask instead of underneath her hat.

"I look forward to seeing any jutsu that could do this to you, of all people," Sayuri added lightly. She couldn't be certain, even with her Sharingan, but she thought Shinju was smiling.

"I am not so certain you realize what you ask for, Sayuri-san. But if we should fight in the exams, I promise I'll make it interesting for you. I expect you've already mastered summoning?"

Sayuri frowned. "No. Actually, it's giving me quite a bit of trouble."

Shinju tilted her head slightly. "My father always tells me to clearly visualize anything I want. Perhaps you only need to picture what it is you want in your mind. I doubt it could hurt."

It was strangely good advice, and if Sayuri hadn't known Shinju as long as she had, she might have thought the Aburame girl had a summon of her own. This was not the case, however, so she nodded and hopped off of the roof, smiling to herself. It was good to know that Irihi wouldn't be the only worthy challenger in the exams.

* * *

The Yamanka flower shop was fairly busy, so it was easy for Sayuri to slip in unnoticed (Akamaru waited outside). She moved away from the crowd to a less populated side of the shop and, suddenly inspired, decided to give summoning another try, this time using Shinju's advice.

A moment later, the familiar form of Yon was perched in her hand, happy but a little confused.

"Hey, onee-chan!" he greeted excitedly. "Great to see you again! You need some more oil? I've been practicing really hard! Only… what's with all the flowers? They'll get burned, won't they?"

"Relax, Yon-chan. I was practicing as well," Sayuri explained, placing the toad on her shoulder. She noted with little surprise that it had been much easier than the previous times; she had never known an Aburame to give bad advice. Of course, picturing Yon, Ni, or San was easy simply because she'd seen them before.

"So you're going to buy some flowers, and you want my advice?" Yon guessed uncertainly. "I don't know if I'd be good for that, onee-chan…"

"I'm waiting for someone, and I simply don't feel like doing it alone. Now, tell me about your oldest brother. What does he look like?"

"Sho? Well, let's see. He looks just like the rest of us, except he's huge. Probably bigger than this flower shop, actually."

Sayuri's left eye twitched angrily. "And you couldn't have mentioned that earlier? It's no wonder I can't summon him! I probably don't have nearly enough chakra!"

Yon shrugged. "Well, don't feel too bad, onee-chan. I don't think anyone has ever summoned Sho, so it's not like you're the only who can't. If it's really a problem, I could talk to one of my cousins about swapping with Sho. I'm pretty sure he's a little smaller than this flower shop, anyway…"

Because she knew Yon was trying to help, Sayuri suppressed the urge to throw him at the nearest window. He would probably just disappear instead of crashing through it, anyway, which made the whole idea less appealing. But she was still angry enough that she didn't notice someone calling her name until a hand waved in front of her face.

"Sayuri? Can you hear me?" Hanako asked as the Uchiha girl finally looked at her. "Oh, good. I thought you had a genjutsu backfire on you or something."

Sayuri nearly threw HER at the window for that line, but decided against it, as that would definitely be noticed. "I'm fine. What do you want?" she snapped.

"I'm supposed to ask you that, actually," Hanako sighed, gesturing towards the orange apron she was wearing with a sunflower on the front. "I work here when it's really busy. So do you know what kind of flower you want?"

A blank look settled firmly on Sayuri's face. Hanako couldn't really think she'd come here for flowers, could she?

"I bet you want a lily, right?" Hanako guessed, apparently oblivious to Sayuri's train of thought and the expression on her face. "We've got several varieties. For you, I'd suggest Peruvian or Stargazer."

"Stargazer," Sayuri repeated, simply because it sounded more interesting.

"Good choice! Those are right over here…" Hanako grabbed her hand and dragged her across the shop, nearly dumping Yon on the floor in the process. "Here they are. Like them?"

Hanako was standing in front of a display of fragrant white flowers, but Sayuri wasn't quite sure what was so impressive about them. They were just… flowers.

"Traditionally, they can stand for many things. Two of the more common meanings are purity and aspiration."

Sayuri paused, her mind wandering unexpectedly. Two images emerged from her memory with startling clarity.

Hinata firmly grasping her hand as they walked through the village, openly defying the disapproving stares directed their way.

Naruto laughing and grinning as he swung Sayuri up to sit on his shoulder, telling her she could be Hokage one day if she wanted it bad enough.

"So what do you think?" Hanako asked.

"Show me the Peruvian."

Hanako blinked in surprised. "Really? Okay, they're a little farther down this row…"

The next display they stopped in front of contained several different flowers. Sayuri's eyes were drawn to the orange ones, though. They reminded her of Naruto's old jumpsuit (he'd tried to give it to her, but Hinata stopped him, thankfully).

"These stand for friendship and devotion," Hanako said. "And they come in different colors, so it should be easier to find one you like."

Two more images sprang into Sayuri's mind.

Irihi, grinning like mad as they ran through a mock fight for the hundredth time, attacking and countering with Gentle Fist taijutsu, neither girl blinking as their hands blurred and cut through the air like precise but dulled knives.

Jiraiya smiling widely and patting her head, even though his arm was covered in a blue-black rash.

"So have you decided?" Hanako asked, staring at Sayuri expectantly.

"I don't want either. Yon-chan would probably mistake them for food, anyway."

"I would not!" Yon protested angrily, but Sayuri was already heading for the door.

"Tell Irihi that I left to do more training," Sayuri said over her shoulder. "She'll understand."

* * *

By the time she reached her house, Sayuri had found her symbol.

With a kunai, she carefully carved her name into her headband's metal plate. After that, she bit her thumb, watching the dark red blood well up. All it took was a thought to turn the red to purple, and then nearly black.

"I fight in my name only," Sayuri whispered, smearing her poison-tainted blood across the plate. The resulting dark violet stain pleased her. "To prove that I have not yet vanished from this world. Everyone who opposes me will know my name. I will imprint it on their souls in my own blood. From this day forward, I exist to make my name known."

It would only occur to Sayuri in the following days that she had neglected to print her entire name on the headband. But whether this was because she felt that she didn't truly belong to a clan, or if she just couldn't decide between them, not even Sayuri would know for quite some time.

**End of Part 3.**

* * *

Endnotes:

Sayuri's bloodline limit/jutsu:

**Poison(ous) Soul**: As explained, every pore on Sayuri's body can release poison in any form (gas and liquid being most common). Consequently, her chakra and bodily fluids (sweat, blood, saliva, etc.) can also be poisonous, if she wills them to be so, or if she fails to practice proper restraint. With considerable effort, Sayuri can manipulate foreign (someone else's) chakra, and therefore send poisonous versions of attacks back at them. In most cases, a portion of the chakra required to do this would be drawn from the attack itself, so Sayuri's counterattack would be weaker than the original, but possibly even more devastating with a solid hit. With unique attacks like the Rasengan, however, she can only imitate them to the best of her current ability. If the Sharingan can copy the attack, however, then Sayuri has a much easier time creating a lethal version.

**Futon (Wind Release): Poison Grenade**: Styled after Shukaku's Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet (Futon: Renkudan), Sayuri spits out a compressed ball of poison gas. Shukaku's version is of course much more destructive, while Sayuri's main goal is to poison, not destroy. As a result, her ball of air is much smaller and carries far less force, simply spreading a small amount of poison gas on impact.

**Futon (Wind Release): Great Poison Mist**: Sayuri's preferred method of releasing the poison from her body is to emit an invisible, near-undetectable vapor into the air, which can either float freely, or be directed at an opponent. Effects of exposure can range from coughing fits to much more incapacitating conditions.

Sayuri's toads think themselves famous because they "borrowed" their nicknames from the Hokages, but their talents (or lack thereof) are in no way meant to reflect on those totally awesome guys.

There actually is a small story behind Shinju's injuries, but I haven't decided whether it would be better in this story, or in The Iron Hyuuga. But make no mistake, you'll know the jutsu when you see it.

Disclaimer: Uchiha Sayuri, Yon, Ni, San, Sho, Hyuuga Irihi, Nara Kouji, Aburame Shinju, Uzumaki Enten, Uzumaki Tsuki, Yamanaka Isai, and Haruno Hanako belong to me. All other characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.


	4. Closer Than Most

Notes: I'll only focus on what happens to Sayuri during the chuunin exams here. Everyone else will be covered in The Iron Hyuuga.

Summary: Sayuri find herself getting uncomfortably close with certain people as the chuunin exams begin.

**A Uchiha Among Uzumaki**

**Part 4: Closer Than Most**

**A Naruto Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (XMAN0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

"Ow."

Sayuri blinked in disbelief and slowly turned her head as best she could, given her current state of exhaustion.

"Ow, ow, ow!"

Irihi was lying flat on her back a few feet away, actually looking tired for the first time that Sayuri could ever recall. Any other time, that discovery would've made the Uchiha girl proud, but she was all too aware that if Irihi decided they should train a little more, Sayuri would seriously consider pinning the spunky Hyuuga to the floor with kunai and using the rest of her strength to crawl away as fast as she could. With any luck, Irihi would stay stuck to the floor of Sayuri's house for a few hours before anyone found her.

"OW!"

That last one had sounded particularly fake, and Sayuri looked over to find Irihi staring at her expectantly. "What now?"

"I'm in pain," Irihi informed her, frowning a little.

"And?"

"You're supposed to make me feel better."

Sayuri considered that for all of three seconds. "We have spent the better part of the last five hours training. At this point, I couldn't care less how you're feeling. This was all your idea, as usual."

"But you're my best friend!" Irihi protested, sounding scandalized. "It's your JOB!"

There were so many things wrong with the statement that Sayuri didn't have the time or inclination to go into them all. So she just settled for the main two. "I never agreed to that, and I certainly don't remember getting paid."

For a long moment, there was no response.

Then the air was driven out of Sayuri's chest as a surprisingly heavy arm was thrown roughly over her body. She winced and glared as Irihi dragged herself close enough to prop her chin up on Sayuri's shoulder.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," Irihi replied with a deep frown. "Now, what are you going to do to make me feel better?"

It was very tempting to try and sell Irihi on the pros of being knocked unconscious, especially as it would have been easy to suddenly grab her head and slam it into the floor repeatedly. But there was always a chance that Irihi was expecting that sort of thing, which of course doomed it to failure.

"I'm going to suggest that you get off of me so I won't be tempted to stab you. Then we'll both feel better." She managed a poor parody of a smile to go along with it.

"You're crankier when you've had your butt kicked a few times, did you know?" Irihi asked after a few seconds. She tilted her head to avoid a hastily tossed shuriken. "Guess so."

Sayuri made a half-hearted attempt to push Irihi away, but only got her hand squeezed firmly, but not uncomfortably so, as a result. She sighed and closed her eyes, wondering why she always agreed to train with Irihi, since annoyances like this were not exactly uncommon.

"Have you ever kissed anyone, Sayuri-chan?"

The question was so unexpected that Sayuri couldn't answer immediately, because it was the last thing she'd ever expected Irihi to ask her. Finally, she opened her eyes and looked at the Hyuuga girl, strangely unnerved to find her staring blankly at the wall. Irihi looked a great deal like her father in that moment, and though the comparison was pretty much inevitable, it was an image that Sayuri never welcomed. Irihi always looked like her father, but on the rare occasions that she acted like him, too, it was extremely difficult to deal with her.

"I mean, if you don't want to tell me, then-"

"Why would you ask me that, Irihi?" Sayuri demanded quietly.

"I've never done it," Irihi replied at once. "Well, not really. I wondered if you had."

"No."

"Oh."

There was complete silence for a second.

"Have you ever been kissed, then?"

Sayuri shot her an incredulous stare. "Only every time Hina-mama sees me."

"Not THAT kind of kissing," Irihi sighed, shaking her head. "The kind where someone likes you enough to want the first one to be perfect."

Even though she had no idea what Irihi was talking about, Sayuri correctly assumed that saying so would only drag this conversation out, and that was the last thing she wanted. "No."

"Oh."

Pause.

"Have-"

"Irihi."

"Hmm?"

Sayuri reached up, firmly seized Irihi's chin, and forced the girl to look at her. "If you want to kiss me, say so. I would hate to think that you were doing this simply to get on my nerves."

Irihi stared at her with wide eyes for a very long moment, apparently surprised. "Why-" She stopped, blinked, and then said, "Okay. But no acting like it didn't happen later on."

"Why not?"

"It's one thing if we never talk about it. It's another if you try to pretend that we didn't have a little moment."

Again, Sayuri had no idea why any of that should matter, but on the off chance it would get Irihi to stop talking, she was willing to do just about anything. "Just hurry up before I change my mind."

"Aren't you even going to sit up?"

Sayuri glared at her. "I couldn't even if I wanted to."

"Well, I'm not going to do it if you're looking at me like that!"

Naturally, by then Sayuri was far too annoyed with her rival to look at her any other way, so she merely closed her eyes and waited.

After what seemed like several minutes, Irihi came closer. Sayuri found herself surrounded by familiar sensations, all of which suddenly took on new meaning: the rough then smooth texture of Irihi's bandaged fingers as they lightly slid over her cheek. The cool, damp tickle of Irihi's dark brown hair on her arm, still wet from the numerous Suiton jutsu she'd charged straight into. Finally, the startling warmth of Irihi's cheek rubbing against her own.

Then Irihi turned her head slightly, and their lips met.

Although she'd had no expectations of this moment, Sayuri thought she should be disappointed. There was none of Irihi's usual force and determination, only the soft, tender pressure of her lips. It made Sayuri glad that she'd closed her eyes, because if she'd been able to see the heartfelt expression on Irihi's face, it would've made her even more uncomfortable.

Without warning, the kiss was over, but Sayuri did not dare to open her eyes until she felt Irihi gently stroke her hair.

"So now we can say we've done it," Irihi whispered, the tremble in her voice betraying her. "We never have to worry about it again."

"Then why are you sad?" Sayuri asked, genuinely curious.

Irihi buried her face in Sayuri's shoulder. "You're going to make me kill you, aren't you?"

Sayuri blinked slowly. "What?"

"You're going to get really strong one day, Sayuri-chan. Then you'll turn evil for some reason, and they'll expect me to stop you, because no one knows you better than I do. So we'll fight, and you'll refuse to stop, and then... I'll kiss you for the second and last time."

Of all the ways Sayuri had imagined she might die, that wasn't one of them. It wasn't even close, really.

"Do you know why I decided to listen to you in the first place, the day we met?" Sayuri murmured.

"Because I got you out of that Doton jutsu?"

Sayuri shook her head. "Everyone else wanted things from me: answers, power, blood. You and Jiraiya-sensei were the first ones to help me without wanting something in return."

"That's not true," Irihi sighed, raising her head. "I wanted you to be my friend. I even hit you when you wanted to be rivals instead..."

"That is what rivals do, Irihi. Besides, I would never have allowed a rival to kiss me," Sayuri pointed out before she could stop herself.

"So... I really am your friend, Sayuri-chan?"

If Sayuri had had the strength to kick herself, she would have gladly done it. Instead, she was forced to scowl and turn her head away from Irihi's beaming face. As it was, she still got a crushing hug and a noisy kiss on the cheek, and very nearly gave Irihi a black eye for making her blush.

After the squabble died down, Irihi slowly got up and announced that she had to go, since Kaneda wanted to squeeze in a few more missions before the chuunin exams. Sayuri didn't dare question the wisdom of Irihi wearing herself out before a mission; she was constantly worried that Irihi would reveal that she wasn't tired at all, which would mean that Sayuri was the only one that had gone all out. But either Irihi truly was tired, or she was a very good actress.

"Sayuri-chan," Irihi said quietly as she reached the door. "You'll always be my best friend. No matter what. You know that, right?"

Sayuri closed her eyes. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Irihi."

"I never have. That's how I know," Irihi replied, waving as she shuffled out of the house.

She was probably wrong. At least, Sayuri thought she was. But then, Irihi had also figured out that the kissing wouldn't become a regular thing. Maybe she wasn't wrong... all of the time.

* * *

Uzumaki Hinata had just finished cleaning her kitchen floor when she spotted a very muddy foot. Said foot was connected to a muddy leg, which was in turn no doubt connected to a muddy everything else. Hinata closed her eyes, counted to three, and slowly opened her eyes again.

"If you are going to insist on practicing Suiton jutsu," she said calmly, "the least you could do is find a CLEAN water source, and use it to clean up after yourselves."

The three Uchiha children exchanged glances, before the two boys simultaneously vanished in puffs of smoke, leaving the girl alone to face Hinata's displeasure.

"I know very little about the ways of the Uchiha," Hinata remarked, "but I think you need better friends, Sayuri."

"They are teachers, not friends," Sayuri replied. "Ni and San have been teaching me how toads fight. They are unusual, but resourceful creatures. Or so San keeps telling me."

"Then why do they keep transforming themselves into humans?" Hinata asked.

"It is apparently their specialty, and I must admit that they are formidable fighters in human form. I do wish they had patterned their appearances after someone else, though. It's a little unnerving to suddenly have blood brothers."

Hinata smiled at her. "Don't say that. They only want to be close to you."

Sayuri rolled her eyes. "I give up my blood to summon them. That's close enough. They don't have to be so... touchy."

She would never say so, but Hinata was inclined to agree. San was particularly fond of dragging Sayuri onto his back and leaping over the nearest building, no matter how tall. He had never dropped her, but that was probably only because Sayuri had been too busy trying to claw him out of existence. Ni was often no better; when he wasn't drowning Sayuri in Suiton jutsu, he was tossing her bodily into rivers to "make her more amphibian-like." Despite the rough treatment, Sayuri was learning a great deal, as she wouldn't have put up with them otherwise.

"So do you need any help with your training?" Hinata asked, trying her best to sound casual.

Sayuri simply stared at her, as if perhaps she'd forgotten that Hinata was both a mother and a ninja. "Are you offering?" she said at last.

Hinata nodded. "Well, it's only fair..."

"You helped someone else prepare for the chuunin exams?"

"They did ask, and I saw no reason not to."

Sayuri frowned. "Was it Irihi?"

"Yes. Are you surprised?"

"No. I'm more surprised that you're offering to help anyone else."

"Not anyone else," Hinata replied, sounding slightly offended. "Just you. But I'm guessing you're going to decline either way, right?"

"I already know what areas I need to work on," Sayuri said. "I don't want to try learning anything new right now."

"That sounds like a good, solid strategy. Most people will be in a hurry to learn new things, but it's often better to improve on what you already know."

"You taught Irihi something new, didn't you?"

Hinata blushed slightly. "I didn't teach her, really. I only showed it to her, and made her figure out the rest. She still hasn't gotten it exactly right, but she's satisfied with what she can do."

Sayuri stared at her for several seconds. "Is it something she would use against me?"

"I doubt it. Irihi wouldn't use that unless she wanted to end a match quickly. She'd never do that with you. She likes fighting you too much."

* * *

Sayuri had been aware that as Jiraiya's only student, there would be certain conditions concerning her participation in the chuunin exams. She was finding out, however, that all this really meant was that she had her own set of rules that applied to her alone, but made the test itself no less difficult. Most importantly, she was allowed to enter without a team… for the first stage, anyway. Jiraiya assured her that he had a special surprise in store if she made it that far, and while she intended to do just that, Sayuri was wisely wary of the surprise.

From all appearances, though, her first stage test was no different from anyone else's, at first. She was led to an empty classroom, and told to wait for her examiner.

Two hours later, Sayuri was starting to think that maybe her examiner was either sick or dead, since they had not yet appeared. She didn't dare leave to check, for fear of her examiner showing up while she was gone and mistakenly assuming she had decided to stay home.

Finally, though, the door slid open, and a person who could only be her examiner walked in. Sayuri knew this because the man, and his lateness, were obviously a way of testing her patience. Why else would she have been assigned to Hatake Kakashi?

Kakashi was about to offer one of his traditional lame excuses, but took one look at Sayuri, who was releasing enough killing intent to paralyze a whole team of genin, and decided against it. "Well, let's get started. As a Sharingan user, you won't have to worry too much about genjutsu… unless, of course, you're facing a more seasoned Sharingan user, in which case you could be in a lot of trouble. An even more dangerous case is if you came up against the Mangekyou Sharingan, which-"

"Are you going to use it on me or not?" Sayuri interrupted.

"Of course not. I don't want to kill you, or at least I don't want to waste most of my chakra doing it when there are far simpler ways. I am, however, going to show you my Sharingan, just to prove a point."

"And that is?"

"That you don't stand a chance against Sasuke or Itachi at your current level," Kakashi answered, pushing up his forehead protector to reveal his Sharingan. "You only have two tomoe in each eye, which means you haven't mastered your normal Sharingan yet. Meanwhile, Sasuke is probably very close to obtaining the Mangekyou, if he hasn't already. If you ever meet either of them, your best weapon is probably your words. You need to say something to convince them not to kill you on sight. I can't help you there, since I've been forced to fight nearly every time I saw them. Your situation is even worse, as they could definitely catch you before you ran away."

Despite the fact that Sayuri was listening attentively, suddenly Kakashi's voice faded slightly, as if it were background noise, even though he was still right in front of her. She was still trying to figure out what was happening when the door slid open again.

A man Sayuri had never seen before stepped into the room. This was not entirely surprising, since she often overlooked people that held no importance to her. That was not the case with this man, however, because the first thing Sayuri noticed was his red and black eyes: the Sharingan. His black hair and pale skin seemed as if they didn't fit him, as if he'd just stepped into that body mere moments ago. It made no sense to Sayuri, but it didn't have to, because in the next moment, the man was moving towards Kakashi with a sword in hand.

Impossibly, Kakashi gave no sign that he knew anything in the room had changed, and continued to stand there talking as his death approached.

There were only seconds to act, but Sayuri didn't know a single jutsu that could possibly stand up to a more experienced Sharingan. And if this attacker could overcome Kakashi, what chance did she really have against him? Kakashi was going to die, and she shortly after, no doubt.

She knew this, with as much certainty as she knew her own name, and that Irihi would do anything to protect her. She was important to Irihi, and that was what one did in such cases.

Kakashi was not important to Sayuri; he was rather annoying, in fact. Yet she distinctly remembered all Naruto's stories that began with, "Kakashi-sensei was late AGAIN, and when he FINALLY showed up…" And then there was Hinata's story about how Kakashi had helped her train Akamaru, and how he'd welcomed her back into the village (and straight into Naruto's arm, but no one had minded the rush much). He was important to them… to her parents… to her clan. And so he was important to Sayuri, as well.

Still, she felt a little silly, replacing Kakashi with herself just as the sword would have pierced his heart. Which meant that it pierced her heart instead. There was blinding pain, darkness, and then a rather shocked Kakashi looking down at her, his Sharingan covered up again, as she opened her eyes.

"You know, you could have just shouted, 'Look out!' and passed just as easily," he commented after a long moment. "So why didn't you?"

Sayuri thought that over, and only one answer occurred to her. "I did what Naru-papa would have done."

She got the distinct impression that Kakashi frowned slightly, just before his eye crinkled happily. "Well, as I said, you did pass. You're to report to the Forest of Death after this. Good luck!"

"Who was the attacker?"

Kakashi paused and tilted his head slightly. "Would it have mattered?"

"No," Sayuri realized with a start.

"Then there's no point in telling you, is there?"

Sayuri was still too startled by that revelation to notice when Kakashi slipped out of the room.

**End of Part 4.**

* * *

Endnotes:

I know this chapter was very, very short. I didn't realize Sayuri's first exam would be so short until I wrote it out. But I only wanted to cover one stage per chapter for simplicity's sake,

You'll get to see what Irihi learned from Hinata eventually… but only over in The Iron Hyuuga, obviously.

Please don't waste time or review space telling me that Sasuke can't get the Mangekyou Sharingan without killing either Sakura or Naruto. I'm starting suspect that it only has to be someone close to you emotionally, and that you only have to have killed them in the sense that you believe you're directly responsible for their death (and of course if you DID kill them, then you are). That at least might explain why Kakashi got the Mangekyou so much later (maybe he had to believe he was responsible for Obito's death for a certain number of years before it finally kicked in for his wonky, transplanted eye?)

Even if the Sharingan can see through every genjutsu, that doesn't mean they're not effective. Kakashi realized that Tsukiyomi was a genjutsu just after the attack began, but it was still all too effective on him, as Itachi made a big deal of pointing out. So seeing through a genjutsu isn't the same as being able to break or counter it, you just know that you're caught in one, but it can still hurt like hell.

Don't bother asking me who the mysterious Uchiha was if you didn't figure it out. Like Kakashi said, in the long run, it really doesn't matter. Although I think it's pretty obvious, anyway.

Next chapter is the Forest of Death, and Sayuri actually will have a team, though perhaps not one she's going to be excited about working with… There's a big hint in this chapter. Kind of hard to miss, actually.


End file.
